Hellhounds of the Vongola
by CrimsonSkyTamer
Summary: "Explain that this is no longer cannon because we're here, and have possession of Lambo's bazooka instead of Irie?" "We could have shot ourselves after the rest have gone, right?" "…fine. I wanted to shoot Hibari and watch his what-the-hell-just-happened face. Is that reason good enough for you?" Three fans are sent to the KHR world. Unfortunately, they'll just have to wing it.
1. Prologue: The Marea Rings

_**[Prologue: The Marea Rings]**_

_Author's Note: There are some differences from my fanfic (also entitled Hellhounds of the Vongola) on Wattpad. These differences are intentional, but no major alterations will be made. So if you have read the Wattpad version, it's okay if you do not wish to read this version. Subsequent chapters will be the same as the Wattpad version and will be uploaded together with the Wattpad version. Lastly, thanks for reading Hellhounds of the Vongola and for sticking with my long author's note. ^^_

* * *

_**-Hotaru's POV-**_

"Hey! I found something!" I shouted, unaware that my voice was muffled and that my best friends, Tsumi and Sora, were practically straining their ears trying to make out what I was saying. "Just bring it out here and we can check it out, I can't stay in here for too long, remember? It's very dusty and I have an allergy…" Tsumi grumbled, her patience obviously starting to wear thin. "Fine, fine! I'm coming!" I pouted, bringing out the small wooden box that I stumbled upon somewhere in the attic of Tsumi's house.

The box was covered in dust, which I blew away, earning myself a glare from Tsumi. But once the thick layers of dust were gone, we could see that the box was made of a plain, reddish-brown wood; the clasp and hinges were made of gold, or what _appeared_ to be gold.

"Open it!" Sora could barely contain her excitement. But to be honest, neither could I. Upon opening the box, we saw three rings set into the faded purple velvet lining, with two more holes obviously meant for another two rings. On the inside of the cover, a crest was carved into the wood. It had a crescent moon in the center, with spiraling tidal waves spanning out from it. The were also words carved there, words that read 'Marea Famiglia'. However, before I had any more time to ponder about it, two rings were taken out from the box.

"I say we should keep these." Tsumi had found three chains after rummaging in the box; threading it through the ring, she hung it around her neck. "Do the same, and bring the rings home."

"What?!" Both Sora and I cried out in astonishment. "These aren't ours!"

"They were found in the attic of my hou-well, my parents' house, no? And I am my parents' daughter, am I not? So, when I say 'take the rings home', you jolly well do that." She shot us a glare, as if daring us to contradict her. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sora thread her ring onto the chain, then hang it around her neck. With a sigh, I followed suit, taking out the final ring and threading it onto the chain, then hanging it around my neck.

"Now that that's settled…" Tsumi smirked slightly, before heading downstairs…

_**~Later that night…~**_

_**-Tsumi's POV-**_

"Damn! I smudged it too much…" I cursed under my breath. It was a few minutes before 10pm and technically, I was not supposed to be drawing; however, being me, I simply couldn't resist breaking a few rules. Taking off my glasses for a brief moment to rub my tired eyes, I looked at the drawing of the Tenth Generation Vongola Guardians once more. Actually…Sora and Hotaru had both said that it looked fine, but being a perfectionist, I wouldn't be able to rest properly if my work didn't suit _my_ idea of 'perfect'. Wait…was that my imagination? Under the warm yellow light of my desk lamp, I thought I saw the paper faintly glow silver… Shaking my head, I brushed it away and resumed drawing, wondering what would life be like in the world of Katekyo Hitman Reborn. All of a sudden, the ring – that was still hanging around my neck – glowed, as if resonating with something. Silver flames engulfed me as I shut my eyes, the light becoming stronger and stronger until it blinded me…

_**-Sora's POV-**_

"It's starting, it's starting!" I jumped about excitedly, not paying any heed to the bouncing ring on the chain that I had around my neck; I simply couldn't wait for Katekyo Hitman Reborn to start! Settling down in the chair in front of my laptop just as the anime opening was playing, I settled into a more comfortable position and got ready for my own 'movie marathon'.

I was totally engrossed in the anime, not bothering about the time, when… "Eh? Why are there…" Were there golden-auburn sparks dancing across the screen of my laptop? Or was it my imagination? I could have sworn that they were real… Just then, the ring hanging around my neck glowed; golden-auburn flames surrounded me, its flickering light growing brighter and brighter. The last thing I noticed before I blacked out was that of my digital clock's face showing 2200 hours…

_**-Hotaru's POV-**_

I stood up from my armchair, stretching my limbs. I was reading the latest chapter of the Katekyo Hitman Reborn manga, which was practically all I had been doing ever since I got home from Tsumi's place. I sat down again, not noticing that the ring around my neck was glowing slightly with a bluish flame. "Wait…what?! Why is the laptop screen glowing blue? Don't tell me it's spoilt…" I almost shouted, before realizing my mistake and covering my mouth. Thank god, no-one heard me, but there was still the problem of the 'spoilt' laptop. Just as the clock struck 10pm, the ring glowed brighter and blue flames appeared, surrounding me before I even fully realised what was going on. "Eh? What the-?" I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping to protect them from the blinding light that seemed to be surrounding me, just like the blue flames…


	2. Where in the world are we?

_**[Chapter 1: Where in the world are we?]**_

_Author's Note: The first paragraph at the beginning is a flashback…_

* * *

_**-Tsumi's POV-**_

_Silver flames engulfed me; the light was so bright that it hurt... In the midst of everything, I thought I heard voices. "Looks like they finally found the rings, or they wouldn't have been able to come here..." "Whatever. So what are we going to do with them?" "Just bring them to a guest room for the time being, we need to discuss this urgently..."_

I jolted upright, almost propelling myself forwards onto the floor from the bed. Wait...from the bed?! Wasn't I previously drawing? Just then, I caught sight of two unfamiliar girls lying on the bed, one on either side of me; one was pale-purple haired while the other had raven-black hair. Both appeared to be unconscious, as they weren't moving. Raising my eyebrow, I turned to walk away...and froze, catching sight of myself in the mirror on the opposite wall.

"No...way..." I muttered, still staring at my reflection. I now had extremely long - okay, maybe only knee-length - dark-oak coloured hair that was mostly straight, with a few natural curves, and my eyes were a meld of the two shades, red and chocolate brown. I was no longer wearing glasses, and my skin tone was pale - a lot paler than it previously was. Turning around, I strode over to the open window at the far end of the room, hoping that some fresh air would clear my head. To my surprise, I didn't recognise any of the surroundings. What exactly was going on here?

"Where...am I?" A familiar voice broke through my train of thoughts. "Hotaru?!" I turned around, shocked; I didn't see her in the room earlier. My eyes met a pair of sapphire-blue ones that belonged to the black-haired girl; in that instant, I knew that she was Hotaru. I just could not recognise her earlier because her appearance had changed, just like mine did...

_**-Hotaru's POV-**_

I woke up feeling dizzy, and the next thing I knew, someone called my name. "Hotaru?!" My eyes met a pair of reddish-chocolate ones. Why did I feel as if I knew her? She was a total stranger; I had never met her prior to today. "You're...Shirohi Hotaru, right?" The girl spoke cautiously. "Yeah...do I know you?" I replied, trying to remember where I might have seen her before. "I'm Tsumi. Not that I look exactly the same. By the way, your appearance has changed too." She sighed, moving forward to sit on the edge of the bed. "Oh, I see...Wait, WHAT?! My appearance has changed?!" I screamed the moment Tsumi's words fully registered in my head. "... Seriously? You just realised what I said? In any case, if you don't believe me, take a look in the mirror." She said, pointing to a mirror on the other side of the room.

Walking across, I stopped short in front of the mirror. "What the-?" I now had raven-black, chest-length hair that was slightly curly; sapphire-blue eyes and my skin tone was slightly paler than before. "Why...do I resemble Black Rock Shooter? Well, apart from my hair, that is..." I asked, to no-one in particular. "So does that mean you want to dress like her too?" Tsumi smirked, still sitting on the bed. I stared back at her in horror, making her smirk wider. "But anyway, since our appearances have both changed...I think that she is Sora." She sighed slightly, pointing to the pale-purple haired girl lying unconscious on the bed. "Who knows?" I said mysteriously, shrugging.

_**-Tsumi's POV-**_

I hate it when she does that. Acting all mysterious and saying 'Who knows?' as if she knows the answer and is enjoying the fact that I don't. "Hey, where are we anyway? And why are we here? How did we end up her?" Hotaru fired a bunch of questions at me, walking back and bouncing onto the bed. "What makes you think I have any idea?" I said, annoyed. "Fine, fine...don't get so annoyed." She laughed slightly. "Anyway, what were you doing before...you know, we came here?" She said the last bit a little too quickly, probably worried about my reaction. No matter what my appearance is, my nature is still the same: being with me is like being with a ticking time-bomb. You never know when it'll - I mean, I'll - explode; just the smallest incident may cause disastrous results.

"I was continuing my drawing - you know, the one with the Vongola Guardians - when I thought I saw the paper faintly glow silver. I had originally dismissed it as unimportant at that time, but now... Anyway, it was a few minutes before 10pm when the paper glowed faintly. So...I would assume that it was around 10pm when the silver flames appeared..." I started pacing the room, trying to remember more details when I was interrupted by Hotaru's shout. Turning around, I saw that she was bouncing up and down on the bed. I shot her the filthest glare I could muster; she waved it off, only serving to annoy me further. "Anyway...I just remembered, my clock struck 10pm when the blue flames appeared; I was reading the latest chapter of the Hitman Reborn manga that just came out via my laptop." She hastily replied when I showed signs of wanting to interrupt.

"So...if we analyse both scenarios, there are several similarities. Firstly, they all happened at around 10pm; secondly, flames appeared in both situations. Thirdly, both of us were doing something related to Katekyo Hitman Reborn. But why different coloured flames? And why us?" I mused, sitting on the crumpled quilt of the bed and drumming my fingers on it when a muffled 'thump' startled me. Both Hotaru and I turned around to find the pale purple-haired girl (whom we assumed was Sora) sitting on the floor, rubbing her head.

"..."

_**-Sora's POV-**_

'Ow..." I muttered, rubbing my head. "Sora! Are you okay?" Looking up, I saw an unfamiliar black-haired girl offering her hand to help me up. Another dark-oak haired girl was sitting on the bed, fixing me with a mildly amused, yet slightly irritated glare. "Thanks, and by the way...do I know you?" I asked awkwardly, while accepting her hand. She pulled me up, smiling. "I'm Hotaru, and that's Tsumi over there." The dark-oak haired girl raised a hand briefly when her name was mentioned. "Erm...I don't get it..." I frowned slightly, puzzled. "If you're doubting what Hotaru's telling you, then ask either of us a question that only Tsumi and Hotaru would know." The dark-oak haired girl - Tsumi? - said confidently. "Okay...what were the contents of the box that we found in Tsumi's attic?" I asked hesitantly. "Duh! The Marea rings!" Hotaru smiled. "To be exact, three Marea rings; there were two other slots in the box that weren't filled in." Tsumi rolled her eyes. " I nodded. "That's right, I suppose you are telling the truth..."

"Obviously. And by the way, I'm not lying when I tell you that you now have purple hair." Tsumi smirked slightly. "What?! You're joking, right?" I panicked. I looked to Hotaru for a confirmation, wanting her to tell me that Tsumi was merely joking, but Hotaru just nodded her head. "She's telling the truth..." I couldn't believe it. Me, with purple hair? "See for yourself." Tsumi pointed to a mirror on the opposite wall of the room that I hadn't noticed earlier. Walking over, I was utterly shocked at my appearance. What in the world? I now had chest-length, pale purple-coloured hair, with lavender eyes; my glasses too were gone. "Shocked?" Tsumi's voice interrupted my train of thoughts. I turned around to find her smirking; Hotaru was looking disapprovingly at her expression. Apparenly, while their appearances had changed, their personalities certainly hadn't.

"Um...anyone knows where we are?" I asked, trying to change the subject yet at the same time finding our surroundings unfamiliar. "I suppose that's the million-dollar question, isn't it?" Tsumi asked sarcastically.

"Where in the world are we?"


	3. Tenth Generation Marea Guardians

_**[Chapter 2: Tenth Generation Marea Guardians]**_

_Author: I apologise for the delay in posting Chapter 2…and for the lack of disclaimers in the prologue and Chapter 1. So…Hibari, disclaimer…_

_Hibari: … The herbivore doesn't own KHR. *leaves*_

* * *

_**-Sora's POV-**_

"In Italy, of course. The mansion of the Marea Famiglia in Rome, Italy." An amused voice spoke. Turning around so sharply that I cricked my neck, I saw an elderly man walk into the room, followed by a party of 5 people. Actually, perhaps 'elderly' isn't really the right word. While he might have a head of grey hair, his eyes were very alert, giving the impression of a very dangerous person to cross. He was also standing in the center of the group, giving me the impression that he was the leader. The rest of the people behind also gave the same impression of being dangerous, though _none_ of them had a head of grey hair.

"Can you please explain what is going on?" Tsumi asked in a polite tone, trying - and failing - to hide that sharp, cold edge to her tone that was most probably caused by anger. A man standing to the right of the person who spoke earlier glared at Tsumi. He had spiky black hair with a red highlight, in his light red eyes was a flicker of fire; his hand moved to the inside of his jacket as if to pull out a weapon.

"Don't, Kuroh." The man, who gave me the impression of the leader, spoke. He sent a silent glare towards the black-haired man, who was known as Kuroh, who looked hasty and reluctant to do as he was told.

"Yeah," A soft voice cut in. It was from a lady with thick locks of blonde hair and kind eyes of the colour light-blue, which were surveying us with interest. "After all, we do owe them an explanation, don't we, Boss?" She continued and smiled at the person who seemed to be the leader. Kuroh clicked his tongue and withdraw his hand from his jacket, looking unhappy.

"Erm... Er... Um..." A shaky voice interrupted the silence. It took me a few seconds to realize that it came from me. "I-I'm sorry but who are you? And you said something about the Marea... Wasn't that the word carved onto the wooden box which we got the rings from?" I asked timidly. The last question was directed towards Tsumi and Hotaru.

"Oh! That's right!" Hotaru exclaimed with wide eyes, as though she just realized that fact. Well...it's Hotaru we are talking about, so there _is_ a possibility that she just realized that. Tsumi sighed, muttering something that seemed like "Those idiots..." under her breath.

"So... Do these rings and you people have to do with us being in this Marea Famil- Famel- Fam- whatever it's called, mansion?" Hotaru asked, eyeing them with suspicion. The leader smiled slightly. "Well...I did get Kuroh and Yuki to bring you to this room, as you crash-landed in the middle of- that is to say, you landed in my office. But you're not asking about that, are you?"

"Obviously." Tsumi glared at him, eyes flashing with barely concealed anger. Kuroh stepped forward, clenching his hands into tight fists.

"H-hey! Calm down, both of you!" Hotaru started panicking, sensing trouble.

"Enough already... Kuroh, she does have a right to be angry; don't lose your cool over a matter this small. And we should probably explain now before this matter escalates." The blonde lady sighed slightly. "Boss, do you want to start?" The leader nodded.

"We'll start with introductions, shall we?" This last was directed towards the group of people with him. Most of them nodded slightly; Kuroh nodded too, but grudgingly. The leader smiled slightly, before introducing himself.

"I am Miyazaki Yashiro, Ninth Generation Boss of the Marea Family." The rest of the group followed suit, starting from Kuroh. "I am Hiroe Kuroh, Ninth Generation Darkness Guardian of the Marea." The blonde lady introduced herself next. "My name is Yuki Daiya, and I am the Snow Guardian of the Marea." A petite, pink-haired lady stepped out from the shadows behind the group. "I am Kasuga Ai, Yashiro's Comet Guardian." She smiled slightly. "And last but not least, the Wind Guardian-" Yashiro said, only to be interrupted by the last person, who had light brown, slightly messy, hair and mischievous celeste velato-coloured eyes. "Daisuke Hiiragi, at your service." He said playfully as he did a little bow.

_**-Yashiro's POV-**_

"Okay. Since we are done introducing ourselves, it's now your turn." I smiled at the three girls, who still seemed to not trust us. Well, I can't say that I blame them. After all, it's not every day you wake up to find yourself in a mansion in Italy. I let an inaudible chuckle escape from my lips; at the same time noting which girl was which Guardian, as the rings were clearly hanging from their necks.

The girls looked at one another, sending silent and urgent messages through their gazes. Finally, the girl who had dark oak-coloured hair spoke. "Sorairo Tsumi." She said bitterly, as though the words were forced out of her mouth. I looked at her expectantly. Surely that couldn't be all, could it? To my disappointment, those words were the only ones she said before she returned to her original position, folding her arms in front of her and an annoyed frown etched on her eyebrows.

Next to me, I could feel Kuroh's calm reaching its peak. Turning my head ever so slightly, I sent him a silent command to calm down and wait. Our eyes met for a split second before Kuroh looked away. I smiled. Looks like he got the message.

As though encouraged by the first, another of the three spoke. "E-erm... My-my name is Yoruichi... Sora... Um... Nice to me-meet you." The purple-haired girl stuttered her greetings, doing a poor job of concealing the tense and nervousness in her voice. "Nice to meet you too." I greeted back, so did Ai and some others. The girl, Sora, seemed to relax a little.

"Um... Um... Um... Er..." The last girl stammered nervously, resembling a cornered puppy as she desperately looked at her two friends who just ignored her puppy eyes (Tsumi) and tried to encourage her through eye contacts (Sora) respectively. "Th-My n-na-name i-is..." The raven-haired girl started nervously before her face turned blank, as though she had forgotten her name due to nervousness. "Shirohi... Hotaru." She ended and dipped her head a little as though making a little bow. I smiled encouragingly at her, while stepping on Hiiragi's toes - he was trying his best not to burst out laughing - earning a yelp of pain from the latter. "Okay, before I start my explanation... Does anyone of you know anything about the Marea Famiglia apart from the rings?" I asked the trio. All of them shook their head in return.

"Hmm." I nodded. "The Marea Famiglia was founded around four hundered years ago by Marzia, who was also the boss of the first generation Marea Famiglia. There are a total of five rings, namely: the Moon ring, Snow ring, Comet ring, Wind ring and Darkness ring. Their respective flame colours are: silver, white, golden-auburn, blue and black. Each ring has its own guardian and-" "Wait!" I was suddenly interrupted by a voice."Wh-Why does this sound more and more like Katekyo Hitman Reborn?" Hotaru asked, looking at her friends. "I beg your pardon?" I asked. Katekyo...what? For the first time in many years, I was at a loss. Not only me, my guardians beside me frowned at one another and started murmuring.

_**-Hotaru POV-**_

I was feeling very nervous. Not just nervous, but also very stupid. When I blurted out those words, I knew I couldn't take them back again. Seeing at their blank stares, I opened my mouth to start explaining when I was interupted by Tsumi. "It's...something like a Mafia story." She shot me a warning glance, just for a fraction of a second, but it was enough. I knew that I was not supposed to say any more than that...

Yashiro looked slightly puzzled, but didn't pry any further. Neither did his guardians, although some of them showed signs of wanting to question us - in particular, me - further. Clearing his throat, Yashiro continued. "May I continue?" Two "Yeah"s echoed around the room in unison; Sora and I had spoken at the same time. Tsumi merely acknowledged him with a small inclination of her head.

"So I see you girls have some background knowledge about Mafia." Yashiro commented, "And yes, the Marea Famiglia is a Mafia group. In short, you have been determined as the best candidates to succeed us, the Ninth Generation and have been brought here for that purpose: to succeed us as the Tenth Generation Marea when we retire or in the unlikely event of my demise." The way he said it, so factual and with a face completely devoid of any emotion, what he was saying seemed like the truth. But…he was lying, right? There was no way it could be possible, I mean, out of all the possible candidates, _we _were chosen? And how were we even _Mafia_ potential?

Yashiro must have seen the disbelief on my face, for he remarked: "The rings determined you as the best candidates to be our successors and brought you here; there is no doubt that you all have the potential to succeed us if you have been picked by the rings."

"So…that means…" I mumbled, trying to fit the pieces together. No matter which way I arranged them, it simply made no sense. We weren't exactly the best in our class, neither were we talented, so why were we picked? Actually, how were we even candidates to be the successors to a Mafia family to begin with?

"Essentially, we're going to be their successors, Hotaru. If you haven't realised that yet." A soft voice echoed around the room. Although soft, it was heard clearly, and I had no doubt that everyone in the room heard it. It took me a while to realise that Tsumi had spoken. Clearly, she had the gift of being able to keep others silent without raising her voice, a trait that I had seen many times before. Either that or our classmates knew to keep silent 24/7 as Tsumi was forever answering questions or putting them forward in class. The chances of which were less then zero.

"But…there's no way this is possible. I mean, it's a joke, right?" Sora asked, evidently puzzled. Thank god, I wasn't the only one who couldn't make a head or tail out of this situation.

"No, it's not a joke/No, he's not lying" rang out across the room, earning raised eyebrows from Yashiro's Guardians; Yashiro looked mildly amused while Tsumi looked plain irritated.

"So if we are to accept this…situation, what about the world that we left? I mean, _how_ are we to go back? _Can_ we evengo back?" Sora asked. Just like her to ask the kind of questions that everyone was avoiding.

"You'll find out about that when the time is right. Meanwhile…you can make a fresh start." Yashiro replied vaguely. "Kuroh and Ai will bring you to the armory and give you a bit of basic training with your chosen weapons and your flames. After that, you can choose what you wish to do during the rest of the day. As of tomorrow, you will be heading to Namimori, Japan."

… What?!


	4. Hello Namimori, hello Tenth Gen Vongola

_**[Chapter 3: Hello Namimori, hello Tenth Gen. Vongola!]**_

_Author's Note: Here's Chapter 3 of [Hellhounds of the Vongola], my apologies for making all of you wait so long for the new chapter. My school term has started and I'm now busier than ever. So I guess that I will only be uploading about once a month at earliest. Or maybe once every few weeks if I'm on break…_

_Anyway, I would like to thank everyone who has read this story, as well as __**Seithr-Kairy**__ and __**TenraiTsukiyomi**__ for favouriting this story; __**ShinigamiinPeru**__ for favouriting, following as well as reviewing! _

_Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn, or Mukuro and Hibari would be brothers…_

_PS: Italics are used for emphasis. Italics + round brackets are used for mental communication._

* * *

_~Timeskip: The next day; at Nami-chuu~_

_**-Tsumi's POV-**_

I entered the school compound with my two guardians lagging behind. All of a sudden, a silver blur – a tonfa – suddenly headed right at me; I dodged it, but wasn't fast enough to escape unscathed. A small cut had appeared on my right cheek. By this time, Hotaru and Sora had caught up with me. "Geez…you can get injured even when we're like, 5 paces behind you." Hotaru rolled her eyes. "This makes our job a lot harder, boss…"

I stiffened slightly; was there a menacing aura or was it my imagination?

"Hotaru, Tsumi…that tonfa…" Sora looked very worried. "If I'm not wrong, only one person uses tonfas as a weapon…"

_Hibari Kyoya…_ Great; now I had to worry about a certain skylark bastard.

"Huh? What's up with mentioning tonfas?" Looks like Hotaru is still clueless…she's going to pay for it later. "Unauthorized herbivores are not allowed within school premises." A cold voice said. I turned around and frowned slightly, realizing that I had been correct earlier. The aura came from _him_. One of the most troublesome people in the entire anime/manga series of Katekyo Hitman Reborn just made his appearance. He had short black hair, with a fringe that joins at the center of his face and parts to the sides, resulting in a sort of 'M' shape. He was wearing the school uniform with committee's armband pinned onto his left sleeve. The committee's black jacket was hanging from his shoulders, the sleeves swaying slightly.

Sora squeaked slightly; not that I could blame her. His presence alone was…disturbing. Hotaru bit her lip. He glared at the three of us; to be more specific, me. Probably he wasn't used to having people glare right back at him. "We're new students. Got a problem with that?" I snapped. Usually I'm able to keep a tight rein on my temper, but this guy… I felt like punching the shit out of him.

"Documents." Was the only thing he said; Sora took them out of her bag, hands shaking slightly. He took them from her, and looked them over quickly. Passing them back, his blue-grey eyes narrowed slightly when his gaze passed over us. "Herbivore. You aren't dressed in the proper attire. For that, I will bite you to death." He pointed a tonfa at me. I sighed internally; I knew that choosing to wear a tie instead of the bow was a bad idea, but I loathed the idea of wearing that bow. I suddenly dropped my bag and broke into a sprint; dashing for the classroom block. Of course, the prefect followed; however, he was slowly catching up with me.

_(Skylark bastard. Why did he have to pick on me? Anyway, go to 2A first…I'll meet you there. )_ I lit up my Moon flames to contact Hotaru and Sora mentally; the ring hanging on a chain underneath my blouse glowed silver. Like hell I cared about any students that were watching; the only thing that mattered was getting away from this…maniac. And to make things worse, my weapons weren't with me; they were sent to Reborn under Yashiro's orders.

_(Calm down! Anyway, it's your problem since you chose to wear a tie instead of the bow…)_ Hotaru started walking towards 2A. _(Good luck surviving a fight with Hibari if he catches you; you know that you – literally – suck in physical activities.)_

_(Hotaru, I don't think this is the right time to say this…)_ Sora sighed slightly, picked up my bag and headed for 2A as well.

_~With Hibari and Tsumi~_

I ran up the last flight of stairs and kicked the door open. The bright sunlight was too much to bear, and I squeezed my eyes tightly shut for a brief second before running out into the open sunlight. I realised that I was at the roof…a dead end. And _he_ would surely catch up… Just then, something hit me with the force of a sledgehammer; leaving me on the ground gasping for breath. A cool metal pole was pressed against my neck, and a pair of blue-grey orbs stared right into my own. There was no trace of mercy in those eyes, and I doubted that he would hesitate to hit me just because I was a girl. I stared defiantly back; and smirked slightly in satisfaction as his eyebrow twitched slightly in annoyance.

He suddenly got up, removing his tonfas. "Fight me, herbivore." I got up, raising an eyebrow. "In case you haven't noticed, lessons have already start-"

"I don't care." He rushed at me with his tonfas in hand; I grabbed his tonfas and pushed myself into the air, landing behind him. "Not bad. The herbivore knows some skills." He smirked, and launched into a flurry of attacks, forcing me to dodge each one. I got hit several times; none in the face though. He was obviously more of a gentleman then he let on…right?

The fight went on for what seemed like eternity. I kept dodging his attacks and he seemed frustrated at the fact that I wasn't attacking back. Usually, I would have, but since I was at an obvious disadvantage, I stuck to dodging his attacks against my better judgment. But still, I was getting exhausted, resulting in more and more of his attacks were hitting me.

_(Are you still alive? Because 2 periods have gone by already…)_ How did Hotaru contact…that's right, I didn't extinguish my flames. As I thought of how to reply her, something connected with the side of my head. I felt a sudden, overwhelming sharp pain before total blackness descended.

_**-Hibari's POV-**_

The irritating herbivore was _seriously_ fragile. She evaded most of my attacks only to fall due to one blow to the side of her head. She didlook distracted at the last few moments though… What could have caused it? Wait. Why was I even bothering? She was just another herbivore that I had bitten to death.

"Ciaossu, Hibari. I see that you have met Tsumi." The infant jumped down from the top of the fence, smirking. "What does this have to do with you?" I looked at him. "You'll know later at the meeting; Tsuna's house, after school." He readjusted his fedora before jumping off the roof; Leon turned into a hanglider and the infant left. I looked back at the unconscious herbivore, before letting out an inaudible sigh. Taking out my phone, I dialed a familiar number.

"Kusakabe, get up here."

A few moments later, Kusakabe opened the door, panting heavily. "Kyo-san, what is it?" I walked past him and started descending the staircase.

"Bring that herbivore down to my office."

* * *

_~Reverse: back to when Hotaru and Sora entered the class~_

_**-Third person's POV-**_

Two girls entered the class; one had curly, raven-black hair and sapphire-blue eyes while the other had pale purple-coloured hair and lavender-coloured eyes. The purple-haired one spoke first. "My name is Yoruichi Sora, and I'm from Italy. Yorushiku!" The black-haired one spoke next, though with a bit of hesitation. "My name is Shirohi Hotaru, and I'm also from Italy. Please take care of me…"

"Weren't there three of you?" Satoshi Kuryo, the homeroom teacher said. "Um…" The two girls looked at each other, panicking. "She's…kind of held up." Sora said. The teacher raised an eyebrow. "With Hibari Kyoya…" Hotaru added in helpfully. The whole class sweatdropped.

The teacher cleared his throat. "O-okay, so about the seating arrangement. You can choose to sit next to Sawada, Yamamoto or Gokudera. Mentioned students please raise your hands." A brunette with gravity-defying hair and a black-haired smiling teen raised their hands. A silver-haired delinquent who had his legs up on his desk, did not. After a quick conference, Hotaru sat next to Tsuna, while Sora put a black sling bag on the seat next to Gokudera and sat next to Yamamoto.

"N-nice to meet you! M-my name is Sawada Tsunayoshi, you can just call me Tsuna…" The brunette introduced himself, stuttering slightly. "I'm Shirohi Hotaru, but you can just call me Hotaru. Please take care of me, Tsuna-kun!" Hotaru smiled at him.

"Haha! Nice to meet you, I'm Yamamoto Takeshi!" The black-haired teen smiled cheerfully at Sora. "Nice to meet you too! I'm Yoruichi Sora, just call me Sora, okay?" The purple-haired girl smiled too, unaware of the glares that she was receiving from the members of the Yamamoto Takeshi fan club.

"Ahem. Sawada-san, Shirohi-san, Yamamoto-san, Yoruichi-san; please pay attention." The four students looked at the teacher immediately. Four apologies echoed around the classroom.

_~Outside the classroom…~_

_**-Third Person's POV-**_

"Looks like the two girls have settled in with Dame-Tsuna and his family. Now to check in on their boss…" The sadistic hitman smirked, before jumping off the tree branch and walking off…

* * *

_~Back to the present~_

_**-Tsumi's POV-**_

I woke up only to find myself with a killer headache. Standing up, I almost lost my balance but managed not to fall. Once my surroundings had stopped spinning, I looked around. The place looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't quite recognise it…

"You're awake?" A voice said; turning around, I recognised Kusakabe Tetsuya, Hibari's second-in-command. "What happened?" I asked him warily. He chuckled slightly. "Kyo-san ordered me to bring you here after you got knocked out. And by the way, lunch period is almost over." I frowned slightly. Since school started at 9am, lunch was at 12.30pm, and one period was roughly half an hour, so I was out for about…two and a half hours. I was going to get murdered by Hotaru and Sora. But that wasn't the most pressing issue; I could deal with that later. "I would suppose that I am in Hibari's office." I spoke, my face and tone neutral. "Yes. And I would suppose that the reason why you were fighting with Kyo-san was because of that tie." Kusakabe chuckled almost inaudibly. I chose to ignore his comment, however, and instead started heading out the door before pausing. As much as I hated it, I did owe Hibari. He could have jolly well left me on the roof, yet he chose to get his second-in-command to bring me to his office. But for what reason? "Tell Hibari I owe him one." And I left the office, heading for 2A.

I entered the classroom several minutes after the bell that signaled the end of lunch period rang…and immediately got pulled into a tight hug by Hotaru. "Half the day is already over, where were you? Did you lose to Hibari?"

"We can settle that later since the teacher isn't here yet." Sora looked at me. "Meanwhile, you're sitting next to Gokudera-kun, your bag is already there. And also, what happened just now? Where were you for half the day?"

I pushed Hotaru away rather abruptly. They were asking so many questions, and they were making so much noise that my head was beginning to hurt once more. "Later." I started walking towards my seat, ignoring the stares that I was drawing. Hotaru and Sora returned to their seats just as the teacher entered the class. "Class, take out your textbooks and turn to page 86. And the new student, can you come up to the front and introduce yourself?" I stood up at my seat, not willing to walk to the front. "My name is Sorairo Tsumi. As for the rest, you don't need to know." I said, before sitting down again. Hotaru facepalmed, as did Sora. Gokudera 'che'd, while the rest of the class sweatdropped. The teacher looked slightly displeased, but then seemed to notice something and let my –almost uninformative – introduction slide. "Don't even mention the tie." I glared at him, interrupting him before he even had a chance to speak. He looked shocked for a moment, before clearing his throat and continuing his class.

_**-Hotaru's POV-**_

The rest of the day passed by pretty uneventfully. Well, with the exception of Gokudera and Tsumi arguing all the way throughout Mathematics class. It was pretty amusing actually, watching Gokudera and Tsumi argue over whose method of solving an equation was right. Actually, not just Mathamatics class…the hot-tempered duo argued in almost every lesson! Anyway, the last lesson had just ended and I had almost finished packing my bag when Reborn suddenly popped out of nowhere, earning screams from Tsuna, Sora and myself. Yamamoto, on the other hand, laughed and greeted him while Tsumi nodded slightly in acknowledgement. Gokudera rushed to Tsuna's side before greeting Reborn.

"Ciaossu, Marea Decimo and guardians." Reborn tilted his fedora slightly. "What?! Reborn, how could _they_ be Juudaime's Marea guardians?" Gokudera looked shocked. Well, I couldn't blame him. I too was shocked when I heard about the Marea Family's history. I mean, the Marea Family specialises in almost everything, so they are called by the Vongola to do all sorts of 'dirty' jobs – sometimes jobs that the Varia won't do – and other things like that. Not just the Vongola, but the other families sometimes also pay huge amounts just to get the Marea to do their dirty work for them. "They are, and that's that. Now, we'll be having a meeting at Dame-Tsuna's place so we can discuss things." Reborn said, jumping onto Tsuna's head.

* * *

_~At the Sawada residence~_

_**-Third Person's POV-**_

All the guardians – from the Vongola as well as Marea – were present in the living room of the Sawada residence. Of course, Lambo was sleeping, and tension was running high. A certain pineapple-head and a prefect skylark were trying – note; _**trying**_ – not to kill each other, while a certain Tuna-fish was trying not to faint at the thought of his mother returning from shopping and finding everybody in the living room of their house.

Reborn cleared his throat. "As you all probably know by now, these three are Dame-Tsuna's Marea guardians. Sorairo Tsumi is the Moon Guardian and the Tenth Generation boss; Yoruichi Sora is the Comet Guardian and also Tsumi's second-in-command. Lastly, Shirohi Hotaru is the Wind Guardian." Gokudera looked slightly puzzled and opened his mouth to speak, but Mukuro cut him off. "Oya oya, aren't there five guardians in the Marea? The Moon, Comet, Wind, Snow and Darkness guardians…"

"That is none of your concern." Tsumi glared at him, speaking for the first time since she entered the Sawada residence. "Actually, he's right. Why are there only three of you?" Reborn looked at the three girls.

"I DON'T EXTREMELY GET IT!" Ryohei shouted, causing everyone near him to cover their ears.

"Shut up, lawn-head! You're too loud!" Gokudera shouted back.

"LOOK WHO'S TALKING, YOU'RE SHOUTING TOO!" Ryohei shouted back.

Tsuna and Yamamoto were trying to stop the argument, but to no avail. Hotaru and Sora were mumbling something that couldn't be heard. Hibari was glaring at everyone, Mukuro was going "Kufufufu~" while Chrome was looking panicky and worried. Tsumi, on the other hand, was merely looked mildly amused. A sudden gunshot silenced everyone. Reborn was holding a smoking green gun, looking very pissed. "Can we get back to the topic at hand?" No-one was under the illusion that Reborn was _asking _them to do it; they all knew full well that Reborn was damn pissed and that he wouldn't hesitate to shoot them, or probably do even worse.

Total silence followed. Reborn smirked; Leon turned back into a chameleon and crawled to his usual spot on Reborn's fedora. "Now, I'm sure the girls are wondering when they'll get their weapons back. Well, I'm saying it now. You're not getting your weapons back from me; your teachers will give them back to you when they feel that you're able to handle them." Hotaru and Sora looked exasperated, while Tsumi looked furious. On the other hand, the Vongola had mixed reactions. Some were feeling sorry for them, another was "Kufufufu"-ing, and others were "Hn"-ing and "Che"-ing.

"So, who are our teachers?" Sora asked, a bit warily. Reborn's smirk widened. "Your teacher is my dame student, the Bucking Bronco, Comet guardian." Sora's expression was like "WHAT?!", while Hotaru looked sympathetic. Tsumi, on the other hand, smirked slightly. "Hopefully Dino doesn't have his subordinates with him…" Most of the Vongola sweatdropped, of course, there were a few exceptions.

"Wind Guardian, your teacher is the pineapple over there." Reborn said, earning a glare from Mukuro. Of course, like the world's number one hitman that he is, Reborn wasn't fazed at all. Hotaru looked puzzled for a second, before what Reborn said fully registered in her brain. And then she screamed. "EHHHH?!"

"Kufufufu~" Mukuro laughed creepily. "So I would suppose that this is your weapon." He took out a scythe keychain from his pocket and started twirling it around his index finger. "Don't-" Hotaru started to speak, but was cut off when the scythe keychain glowed blue and extended into a full-length scythe. Mukuro laughed creepily once more, before starting to swing the scythe around. "HIEEE! Mukuro, please don't swing that thing around!" Tsuna was freaking out at the thought of Mukuro destroying his house. Hotaru was freaking out too; a certain sadistic pineapple had got her scythe and god knows what kind of hellish training she would have to go through before getting it back…

"Ignoring the pineapple, we'll move on. Tsumi, your teacher will be Squalo. However, as he is currently on a mission for the Varia, your other teacher will be Yamamoto." Tsumi raised an eyebrow. "Putting her in the same room as that shark is not such a good idea, Reborn…" Hotaru said, slightly nervous. Reborn merely smirked, pulling his fedora down even lower. "So, who has my weapons as of now?" Tsumi asked, not even bothering to look at Reborn. "Ahaha, so the two katana I received in the mail are your weapons?" Yamamoto laughed, amused. Tsumi glared at Reborn, releasing a killing intent that could rival Hibari's. _"_My weapons were sent_ IN THE MAIL?!"_ "Maa maa, calm down, Tsumi!" Yamamoto sweatdropped, but still had a slightly forced smile on his face.

_~Timeskip: After they managed to get Tsumi to calm down…~_

"Regarding the issue of where you'll live, you can crash at Dame-Tsuna's house." Reborn said almost nonchalantly. "W-what?!" Tsuna stuttered, shocked. Reborn fired a bullet at him, saying that mafia bosses do not stutter. The girls, on the other hand, were appalled.

"Isn't Tsuna-kun's house too crowded?" Hotaru asked, remembering that not only Reborn, Nana and Tsuna lived there; Bianchi, I-Pin, Lambo and Fuuta did too. "Y-yes, that right! Can they like, book a hotel room or something?" Tsuna hastily put in. Reborn merely glared at him. "A mafia boss should take care of his subordinates." "I never said anything about agreeing to beome a mafia boss!" Tsuna shrieked. "Ahaha! Still saying the same thing, eh, Tsuna?" Yamamoto laughed before becoming a bit more serious. "Well, since you don't have enough rooms here, I'm sure Pops wouldn't mind if they stayed at my place. But we only have one guest room, so…" His voice trailed off.

Hotaru opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by Reborn. "Hotaru and Sora will stay at Yamamoto's place, while Tsumi can stay at Hibari's place." This sentence earned very different reactions from everyone.

_HIEEEE! Hibari-san would never agree to that! Besides, Tsumi-san wouldn't survive a day living with him…_

_Che. As long as they don't bother Juudaime…_

_I EXTREMELY don't get it!_

…_Zzz…_

_Ahahaha! How did Reborn get Hibari's permission?_

_Kufufufu~ This will be interesting, very interesting indeed…_

_Will Tsumi-san be okay? Hibari-san is pretty scary…_

_Hn. When did I ever say that the herbivore could live at my place?_

…_Why am I the one living with that skylark?_

_Hehehe, Tsumi is living with Hibari…Congrats to her! *smirk*_

_Why must we be separated? And…why do I have to stay at Yamamoto's place?_

"I'll take your silence as consent. For now, all of you are dismissed; we'll meet again tomorrow to compare skills and such." Reborn said while rudely kicking Lambo awake. "To…ler…ate…" Lambo cried before taking out his bazooka to shoot himself, not knowing that it was directed away from him…

_Boom!_


	5. Valentines' Day Bonus Chapter

_**[Bonus Chapter: Operation: Get Boss's chocolates!]**_

_Author's Note: Hey minna! This is a special one-shot for Valentines' Day; Chapter 4 will be uploaded soon! Please note that this chapter has no connection to the main storyline, with the exception of some details being taken from the story; I will be randomly posting these chapters according to holidays. ^^ _

_I would like to thank my beta-reader Emi-chan. as well as -Unknown- for helping me when I was stuck._

_Side notes:  
-Mukuro is not in the Vendicare in this story, so he'll be appearing!  
-Mammon is a girl, so…yeah, please don't be surprised or anything if I use the word 'she'.  
-The characters might be OOC!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn…_

* * *

_~Valentines' Day Eve~_

It was _that_ time of the year again. His guardians would get plenty of chocolate for sure, and he would definitely get none. After all, he _was_ Dame-Tsuna.

"Snap out of it, Dame-Tsuna." A sharp kick to the back of his head snapped him out of his reverie.

"I-itai…" He rubbed the back of his head, turning around to look at the culprit, his tortu-I mean, tutor Reborn.

"Now, as per mafia customs, you are supposed to make chocolate for one member of your famiglia. This is compulsory for all mafia bosses." Ignoring the brunet's startled protest, the hitman continued.

"On February 14th, almost all the mafioso from the Vongola and its Allied Families will be trying to get your chocolates. However, as long as you retain possession of your chocolate till midnight, you will be free to give it to whomever you wish. Actually, you can even eat it yourself. So, Dame-Tsuna, you had better get the chocolates ready for tomorrow." After saying so, the hitman smirked and left, leaving a rather shocked brunet.

_Wait…is Reborn saying that I have to make chocolates for one of my famiglia members? But…I only want to give them to…her…_

_~Meanwhile: At the Hibari residence…~_

"…I suppose you aren't joking." Tsumi said, looking very annoyed. A certain hitman just lowered his fedora and smirked.

"This is such a waste of time…but if you're going to convince Hibari to join the 'game', he's off patrolling at Nami Middle." Standing up, the Marea Decimo headed for her room. "You know the way out, I presume…"

Reborn's smirk grew wider as he left the Hibari residence.

* * *

_~Valentines' Day: In the morning~_

The brunet had arrived in class early. _Very_ early as compared to his usual just-in-time-for-class reporting time; but all this was so that his guardians wouldn't have a chance to snatch his chocolates. He also managed to avoid his Cloud guardian at the gate, as the said guardian was sleeping in his office.

The first hint of his Rain and Storm guardians' appearance was the screaming of fangirls in the corridors.

"Kyah~! They're here!"

"Takeshi-senpai, please accept my chocolates!"

"Gokudera-sama, please accept these chocolates!"

"No, please accept mine instead, Gokudera-senpai!"

"Please accept mine too, Yamamoto-san!"

"No, mine first!"

"Mine!"

The two guardians entered the classroom, arms full of chocolates. Other fangirls were still swarming the class though, not willing to rest until their chocolates were given to their idols.

"Tsuna…"

The brunet turned around, looking at his Rain guardian's serious face. However, before he could continue his sentence, the bell rang, signaling the start of school. Disappointed, the girls left. Yamamoto also returned to his seat, signaling that he wished to talk to the brunet later, while Gokudera made a rude hand gesture at Yamamoto 'for bothering Juudaime'.

"Hi class! As Nezu-sensei is unable to be here today, I'm your new substitute teacher, Dino!" A blonde-haired, brown-eyed male entered the classroom, holding a stack of paper. However, he _miraculously_ manages to trip on thin air and falls face-flat on the floor, to the class's shock. The papers end up flying around the class, with Dino sitting up and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Hehe…I'm sorry."

"Get off the floor, Dino…sensei." Tsumi entered the classroom, looking very tired and irritated. The last word of her sentence was filled with sarcasm, and clearly showed her annoyance. Flinching, Dino stood up quickly and gathered the papers as Tsumi walked to her seat, glaring at the few students who greeted her.

"Ahem, so…yeah. Since first period is Science, we'll be continuing Nezu-sensei's previous lesson on atomic structure." After placing the papers on his table, the Bucking Bronco started his lecture. "Please take out your textbooks and turn to page 56."

"So, elements in Group 1, 2 and 3 lose electrons to become stable, and gain a positive charge as a result. The number of electrons that they lose is the same as their respective group numbers. Elements in Group 5, 6 and 7, however, gain electrons to become stable…"

Looking around, the brunet saw that his right-hand man was not bothering to take down notes; instead, he spent his time giving the Bucking Bronco glares whenever the latter looked his way. Yamamoto, however, was staring _– read: staring until it almost seemed like glaring –_ at the board intently…or was it Dino he was staring at?

Hotaru and Sora were paying rapt attention to the lecture, while Tsumi was glaring at Dino, while holding her bag slightly closer to her than usual. The blonde was sweatdropping at the glares of the young Mafioso, while continuing his lecture.

_~Timeskip: Lunch break…~_

_Ring!_

The bell signaling the beginning of lunch break rung. Immediately, fangirls swarmed the baseball ace and the silver-haired delinquent. The duo was startled, while the brunet seized this chance to escape the classroom without others noticing him.

Running down the empty corridors, the brunet prayed to god that no Mafioso would find him. However, his wish was not to be granted. A certain sadistic tutor noted the brunet's position from his hidden location in the school wall, and sent the location via SMS to the brunet's guardians…and fellow Mafioso.

_He's headed for the roof._

Meanwhile, the brunet had reached the rooftop and found it empty. Even his infamous Cloud guardian was not present. Heaving a sigh of relief, the brunet sat down on the cold, hard floor and looked at the small box of chocolates concealed in his hand when…

"I'm the one getting Juudaime's chocolates!"

"Sawada's chocolates will be mine to the EXTREME!"

"Kufufufu~ I believe that young Vongola's chocolates will be mine~"

"Mukuro-sama is right. Bossu's chocolates will be taken by us."

"Maa maa, you guys can calm down…because I will be the one taking Tsuna's chocolates."

"No, Tsuna's chocolates will be taken by me, his older brother!"

"Hn. Shut up, herbivores."

Shocked, the brunet stood up straight, glancing around the roof for a place to hide.

_This isn't good…there's nowhere for me to hide up here! Unless I can enter my Hyper Dying Will Mode…but I left my pills in class… Argh! Why did I have to forget today of all days?!_

The group burst out onto the roof to find the startled brunet, who froze in shock. "Juudaime/Tsuna/Sawada/Vongola/Bossu/Herbivore, who are you going to give your chocolates to?"

The brunet sweatdropped, but tightened his grip on the small box in his hand. _I never thought that they'd be this outright…_ "N-nobody in particular…"

"Then I'll be taking it." Yamamoto's words surprised everyone; who knew that the calm and soothing rain could be so forceful and outright? Moving forward at an almost inhuman speed, the baseball ace tried to take the box, but was prevented from doing so by a whip.

"Didn't I state it earlier? Tsuna's chocolates are mine." Dino smirked slightly, flicking his whip and causing Yamamoto to fall to the ground heavily.

"No, they're mine!" Gokudera shouted, taking out some bombs. "Take this, Bucking Bronco! Double Bomb!" He hurled the bombs towards Dino, who dodged them at the last minute, causing them to hit Chrome and Mukuro who were behind him.

"Kufufufu~ Someone has a death wish…" Mukuro stepped out from the smoke, grasping his trident; Chrome following closely behind and doing the same. All of the sudden, loud cracks were heard; the entire roof was caving in.

"Herbivores. For casting illusions on the school and destroying it, I'll bite you to death."

The brunet had heard enough. "If you want the chocolates so badly…then you're going to have to find me first." The fighting Mafiosos turned around to find HDWM!Tsuna flying in mid-air, with a pure orange flame on his forehead; he was using one hand to direct his flames downwards, therefore propelling him upwards, while the other hand clutching tightly to the small box. One millisecond later, the Vongola Decimo had vanished; only a small, faint orange dot could be seen some distance away.

"You guys are so lousy." A gun-toting infant appeared on the roof, twirling his green Leon-gun. Ignoring the mix of startled cries and greetings from the group, which ranged from "Reborn! What are you doing here?!" to "Kufufu~ The Arcobaleno is here…" and "Hn. Infant.", he continued his 'scolding'.

"You actually let Dame-Tsuna escape with seven of you. Furthermore, he wasn't even in his Hyper Dying Will mode till the final moments of that battle. How shameful. Luckily, you have another chance, seeing as Dame-Tsuna is headed for the park. However, I should tell you that-" Before he could finish his sentence, the seven had already dashed off, leaving nothing but a trail of dust behind. He smirked. _Always rushing off without hearing the full story; they'll need all the luck they can get…_

_~With HDWM!Tsunayoshi…~_

The cold, piercing wind stung against the raw skin of the brunet's face. He had been flying for quite some time now, taking many detours along the way in case anyone was following him. Well, actually he had spotted two people that looked a lot like Byakuran and Bluebell outside the grocery shop, each holding several bags of marshmallows. He quickly flew away before they could look up, though, and decided to take the detours afterwards.

Landing in between a patch of trees, the sky flame on Tsuna's forehead and hands slowly died away. _Surely they can't find me here…_

_(That's where you're wrong. They're heading for the park right now.)_ A soft voice echoed in his mind. This voice was so familiar, and strangely, he could almost envision the smirk upon that person's face.

_(HIEEEE! How are you able to do this, Tsumi-san?! And…why are you helping me?)_ The brunet having received a warning, quickly started climbing up the nearest tree and conceals himself in the branches.

_(…you're forgetting that I have Moon flames. And the reason why I'm doing this is because the more time they spend chasing you, the less time they will have to chase after me.)_ The brunet sweatdropped. So it was for her own benefit again, huh…

_(And by the way, others are on their way too. Good luck surviving the battle royale…)_ The connection was cut off as abruptly as it was created; the brunet was left to fend for himself once more. But he had a hint: other people were also coming soon. Now to hope that he would not be found…

_~With the Mafioso after HDWM!Tsunayoshi flew off…~_

"You know, we never did get to hear the end of Reborn's sentence." Dino remarked as the temporary group made its way to the park. The group was temporary due to all the members wanting to find Tsuna as soon as possible; as soon as they found him, all of them would be free to backstab one another for the brunet's chocolates.

"Hn."

"That's right to the EXTREME! I wonder what Master Pao Pao could have EXTREMELY wanted to tell us!"

"Shut up, Lawn-head! You're too loud! If Juudaime hears you, he'll definitely leave without us knowing!"

"Maa maa, I'm sure it's not that important or he would have said it first…"

"Kufufu~ Did we?"

"I'm not really sure, Mukuro-sama…"

"Nah, I'm pretty sure we missed somethi-is that the VARIA?!" Dino pointed towards a group of people that resembled the Vongola Independent Elite Assassination Squad about 150 meters away.

_~150 meters away (and __**coincidentally**__ in the patch of trees where Tsuna had landed earlier)~_

"VOOOIII! Where's that shitty brat hiding?!" A long, silver-haired male waved his sword – and right hand – around agitatedly.

"Don't get so agitated, Squ-chan~ Your hair will fall out if you're too stressed~" A very flamboyantly dressed gay male cooed.

"VOOII! Shut up, Lussuria! And who gave you permission to call me Squ-chan?! The name's Squalo, got that?!" Squalo shouted, swinging his sword around to point it at Lussuria but nearly incapacitating Leviathan in the process, earning some curses from the latter.

"Just shut up and find him, trashes!" Xanxus, the leader of the Varia drawled, tightening his grip on a bottle of wine. He was actually taking it easy, sitting on a red velvet armchair while the rest of the Varia were slogging away, trying to find the young boss-to-be of the Vongola. Of course, he had absolutely no intention of letting one of his subordinates get the young don's chocolates. He fingered his X-Guns, smirking. They would do all the work for him; all he had to do was make sure that the chocolates were in his possession after those trashes had found and defeated the young don.

Meanwhile, up in the tree, a brunet was trying not to tremble at the thought of the Varia discovering his hiding spot. However, luck was definitely not on his side today. The Varia Storm guardian, Belphegor, just _had_ to notice the leaves trembling a bit (due to his trembling) and throw some knives at his hiding spot.

"I-itai!" Falling off the branch, Tsuna landed on the grassy floor face first.

"Ushishishi~ The prince has found the commoner~" With a creepy smile, knives seemingly appeared out of nowhere, clasped between the blonde's fingers of both hands.

"I'll get his chocolates for the boss!" A pair of parabolas was taken out; lightning flames crackling along the edges. Leviathan smirked, and would have attacked if not for Squalo smashing him on the head with his sword.

"VOOOIII! Are you stupid or what?! The boss wants to fight the shitty brat himself!"

"Mou~ Be careful, Squ-chan~! You might cause Levi to have permanent brain damage~!" Lussuria pouted; Bel looked away, trying not to gag.

"Mu. I'm not getting paid enough for this." The Mist Arcobaleno, Mammon, floated over.

The brunet had stood up and was about to use this opportunity to escape when a glass bottle – still half-full with red wine – was thrown at him, just missing his face by about half an inch and smashing into the tree trunk behind him. Tsuna froze.

"Shut up, trashes. Just go battle him and get that stupid chocolate before I kill the lot of you trash."

The Storm, Sun, Lightning, Rain and Mist guardians of the Varia were just about to attack when the group of Mafioso who cornered Tsuna at the rooftop of Namimori Middle arrived.

"How dare you try to take Juudaime's chocolate? As his right-hand man, those chocolates belong to me!"

"Ushishishi~ The prince will take what he wants, peasant."

"Haha, hi Squalo! Are you here to get Tsuna's chocolate too? If that is so…then I'm sorry, but Tsuna's chocolates are mine."

"VOOII! That brat's chocolates will be mine, that shitty boss can join in the battle if he wants the chocolate so badly!" That last sentence was directed at Xanxus, who glared at his Strategy Captain.

"EXTREME! You're here too, Lussuria! Let's EXTREMELY fight for Sawada's chocolates!"

"Mou~ Why not? But I'm afraid that I'll be the one winning~"

"Kufufufu~ You're here too, eh, Mist Arcobaleno Viper? Or is it Mammon now?"

"We'll definitely get Bossu's chocolates!"

"Mu. Quit your dreaming. You're all going to lose."

"I was right! It's the Varia! But you're all going down; Tsuna's chocolates will be mine!"

"No, that brat's chocolate will be given to the boss once I get my hands on it!"

"Hn. I'll bite all you herbivores to death."

"Shut up, trashes. That trash's chocolate is mine."

Weapons were taken out and seven different flame types lighted up as their owners prepared to do battle when a certain Sun Arcobaleno landed in the middle of the two groups, holding on to a green Leon-parachute.

"Let's make this a battle royale, shall we? The rules are: injuring, maiming or paralyzing of other combatants is allowed; however, no killing. Next, the battle ends when someone gets hold of Dame-Tsuna's chocolates. So, everybody form a ring and Dame-Tsuna stands in the center. You should all be an equal distance away from each other as well as from Dame-Tsuna." The infant with the yellow pacifier waited till everyone was in position, before grabbing his green Leon-gun and firing a single blank into the air.

"Battle royale, start!"

Immediately, Tsuna screamed his famous (or infamous) "HIEEEE!" as all of the Mafioso, apart from Reborn – who was enjoying the whole thing, that sadistic infant – pounced on him. It was terrifying. Just imagine thirteen Mafioso who are at least twice as strong as you in strength, thrice faster in speed and coming at you as though they were some sort of famished lions and you just so happened to be the unfortunate lamb that came across them. Even being chased by a hurricane would seem to be a better place to be in than in the situation that Tsuna was in now.

Trying his best to avoid all the flying weapons and attacks aimed at everyone, the brunet shielded his chocolates with one hand and his head with his other. _C'mon! C'mon! Think! _Tsuna chanted those words in his head repeatedly like a mantra. _You have to get out of this mess!_

By then, everything was in a chaos. Shouts of "Juudaime!"s, "Herbivore."s, "Tsuna!"s, and all sorts of nicknames Tsuna had earned filled the air as the Vongola, Varia and Dino shouted aimlessly for the targeted young Mafia boss as they threw attacks at whomever was in their way.

A sudden blast of flames stopped everyone in their tracks. Everyone turned to see HDWM!Tsuna, who had a 'boss aura' around him. His chocolates were stuffed in his pants pockets as he made a very familiar handsign.

"Zero-Point Breakthrough: First Edition."

_~Meanwhile, in the shade of a tree~_

Reborn smirked as he tore his gaze away from the fighting form of the brunet. "It seems that I taught him well." He said to his pet Leon, who blinked in reply. Reborn's smirk grew wider as he watched the Mafioso, some of which were currently trying to break free from their icy prison of compressed negative dying will flames. Those who had escaped – namely Xanxus, Squalo, Dino, Hibari, Mukuro and Ryohei – were fighting against HDWM!Tsuna. Mammon too had escaped, although she was merely fighting for the chocolates half-heartedly; she seemed to be more concerned with defeating Mukuro then anything else.

"We're late; the battle royale has already started!"

"It will be fun to watch everyone trying to get Tsuna-kun's chocolate!"

The Comet and Wind guardians of the Marea arrived – the latter carrying a bag of popcorn – and sat down beside Reborn.

"Ciaossu. Why aren't you participating in the battle royale?"

"Hi Reborn! And well, I think that Tsuna-kun should give the chocolates to whomever he wishes, so I'm not participating!" Sora smiled. "But I'll be rooting for the Vongola Guardians!"

"Hi, want some popcorn? And I just want to watch the rest of the mafia get beaten by Tsuna, it's going to be even better than going to the cinema!" Hotaru chuckled slightly. "I wonder who he wants to give his chocolate to, though…maybe Kyoko-chan?"

Before Reborn could reply, however, the last of the Mafioso had broken the ice from the 'Zero-Point Breakthrough: First Edition' and were now fighting HDWM!Tsuna.

"White Applause!"

A huge burst of sky flames scattered the fighting group. Byakuran flew down, smiling. "I would suppose that I'm allowed to join the battle royale, ne, Tsunayoshi-kun~?"

Tsuna increased his output of sky flames. "Do as you wish." He said, ignoring the protests of the rest.

Byakuran's smile grew wider as he put an arm over HDWM!Tsuna. "I'll take that as a yes, then, Tsuna-kun~! And thank you for the chocolates~!" Brillant orange eyes widened as their owner checked his pockets while pushing the winged mafia boss away; a second later, Byakuran was punched in the face by a gloved fist glowing with orange sky flames. Before any of the other Mafioso (who was participating in the battle) could react, the self-proclaimed right-hand man of the Vongola threw a bunch of dynamite at Byakuran.

"Rocket Bomb!"

Thankfully, the brunet had escaped just before the bombs hit, but the intended target wasn't as lucky. However, Byakuran soon flew out of the smoke, unharmed with the exception of a few scratches and bruises…though he did look a tad irritated.

The two Marea guardians looked a bit upset, while Reborn merely lowered his fedora.

The smoke cleared to reveal…tattered bits of wrapping paper.

Thirteen pairs of accusing eyes turned to look at a silver-haired bomber, who looked shocked upon realizing what had happened.

The brunet exited his Hyper Dying Will mode. His brown bangs covered his eyes, so it was impossible to tell what he was thinking.

_Byakuran just barely escaped from Gokudera-kun's Rocket Bomb attack, but dropped the box of chocolates, which got destroyed. So…what happens now?_

He turned to face Reborn, noting the utter silence as he did so.

_The rest must be blaming Gokudera-kun now. Not that I mind, but…I would have liked to pass them to her… In any case, I'm sure Reborn will force me to fight all of them or something because the chocolates are destroyed…_

For a moment, no-one spoke. "So what now, Reborn?" The brunet looked at his tutor, resigning himself to his fate. His brown eyes were solemn, wanting his tutor to get it over with quickly.

The infant hitman stood up. "Since Dame-Tsuna's chocolates have been destroyed, the battle royale has ended." Ignoring the Mafioso's complains and protests, he continued. "However, since there is another mafia boss situated in Namimori…"

The group needed no more prompting. Most of them rushed off, wanting to claim the other mafia boss's chocolates.

"Reborn! How could you?! Tsumi won't survive with all of them on her trail!" Sora protested, while Hotaru merely looked very amused.

"Hn. I suppose the deal no longer stands."

Tsuna looked shocked, as did the two Marea guardians. _Hibari…hasn't left?!_

"Nope. The deal was that you could fight both me and Dame-Tsuna as much as you wanted for his entire week if you managed to get his chocolates, which you didn't. However, I'll compromise just this once. You get to fight with me, Dame-Tsuna _and_ Tsumi if you manage to get her chocolates before midnight. Fair enough?"

Hibari looked at Reborn for a second, blue-grey eyes narrowing, before he turned and ran off.

"How could you make such a deal, Reborn?! And without Tsumi-san's and my consent too!"

"He does it because he can, Tsuna-kun." Hotaru smiled, still eating her popcorn.

"Well, it's still wrong…" Sora looked a bit uneasy.

Reborn smirked. "Let's just enjoy the show…" He said mysteriously.

_~With Tsumi~_

_**-Tsumi's POV-**_

I heard everything from my hiding place in school, courtesy of a certain Sawada Tsunayoshi. I never did cut off the link; I merely concealed its presence. But still…that little devil! How dare he promise a fight to that skylark bastard without my permission! In any case, they'll never find me here. After all, this is the last place that all of them would ever expect me to be in. But just to be safe, I should probably change locations every hour or so.

"VOOOIII! Where is that *shitty wolf?!"

_(Squalo, you shitty shark! How can you be so f*cking loud when you're at least 500 meters away from me? And that's not even including the difference in height! You're on the ground floor while I'm at the roof…)_

_(HIEEEE! Tsumi-san! Shouldn't you be trying to escape the others?!) _Tsuna shrieked mentally. Actually…I have no doubt that he did shriek out loud, but who cares?

_(My apologies. I forgot that the connection wasn't fully terminated…and by the way, I was listening to what happened during the battle royale via this.) _I smirked and stopped the connection, choosing to focus on my surroundings instead. Hopefully no-one snuck up on me while I was 'talking' with Tsunayoshi…

_~Timeskip: 11.30pm, Valentines' Day…~_

_**-Tsumi's POV-**_

Finally, only 30 more minutes to go before I can get rid of this thing! I stared out of the music room window; this would be my final hiding spot of the day if all goes well. I remembered what happened earlier in the day. Bucking Bronco found my hiding spot on the roof of Tsuna's house, Mukuro and Chrome found me while I was having dinner at the cake shop and Yamamoto found me at the baseball field. Not to mention that every time one of them found me, the rest would arrive shortly after. But since I avoided the school earlier, it should be safe. Even if anyone did manage to find me, it would most likely be that skylark who wasn't much of a threat since he wouldn't want to 'destroy school property'.

11:35pm now. It's kind of cold and dark, yet I daren't turn on the lights in case my hiding spot is discovered. But since I have 25 minutes to kill…

Walking over to the piano, I sit down on the chair and gently open the cover. The keys are glossy, reflecting the pale moonlight streaming in from the open window. Closing my eyes, I placed my fingers on the keys and began playing a song.

_Matou shiroi kibou ni inochi wo azuke_

_Unmei ga majiwatta furueru kono sora de_

_"Aishiteta" to saigo ni kotoba wo nokoshi_

_Hohoenda maboroshi ga uketsuideku seigi_

The faint, gentle melody washed over me, yet I felt a twinge of loneliness. [White Justice], third ending theme of the anime Gundam Age, sung by Faylan.

"Herbivore."

I turned around abruptly. The demon of Namimori stood there, leaning against the closed door. I was shocked; since when did he enter the room? I was sure I had locked the door just now, and since I didn't turn on the lights, the only way for him to have discovered my hiding spot was that he heard the piano. But how could that be?! Unless…

"Continue playing." He walked over, standing beside the piano.

"I don't take orders from people who I don't respect." I replied curtly, turning back to face the piano. "But I'll do it just this once."

_Matou shiroi kibou ni inochi wo azuke_

_Unmei ga majiwatta furueru kono sora de_

_"Aishiteta" to saigo ni kotoba wo nokoshi_

_Hohoenda maboroshi ga uketsuideku seigi_

_Tsuyoku yasashii hitomi ni utsutta akai hi wa_

_Itsuka namida de chirasu yo_

_Mou nigetari shinai_

_Bokura wa chikatta_

_Kanashiki toki wo ikiteku kakan na yuushi_

_Eranda michi wo shinjitara tsukisusumeba ii_

_Ubau dake ja sukuenai inochi ni kizuitara_

_Kako no namida ga ima wo michibikidasu_

_Subete wa mamorubeki asu he to_

I struck the final chord as I looked at the raven-haired guardian, ready to make my escape as soon as I saw that he was distracted. He had closed his eyes, listening to the song. Perhaps now would be a good time to make my 'escape'…

_**-Hibari's POV-**_

A small creak caught my attention. Opening my eyes, I saw that the herbivore had vanished. I frowned slightly; I should not have let my guard down. A cool breeze blew against my face; turning around, I realised that the window was open and there was a small silver box sitting precariously on the window ledge. Could it be…?

_When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth._

Picking up the box, I tore open the wrapper, disregarding the pieces that fell onto the floor. The silver wrapper disguised a black coloured box that contained some pieces of what appeared to be dark chocolate.

Looking up, I checked the clock on the wall. 11:59pm. I smirked; looks like the deal with the infant still stood…

* * *

_Author's Note: Minna! How was it? Please review, ne?_

_CrimsonSkyTamer  
14th February, 2013_

_*Squalo calls Tsumi 'shitty wolf' because her box weapon is a wolf…a nickname that stuck during their training._


	6. Into the Future! (Not future arc yet)

_**[Chapter 4: Into the future!]**_

_Author's Note: This chapter is contains several spoilers for future chapters, but there aren't too many. Hey, I did say that the amount of information revealed will depend on whoever is sent to the future, right? ^^ _

_I would like to thank the following people: __**Sora Kiyo**__ for favouriting, following and reviewing, __**Nats Kazcchi**__, __**shugoshugomix **__and __**Chuu112**__ for following and favouriting, __**Evileh Kitty**__ for following, __**KHR123**__ for favouriting, __**anyandeveryanime**__ for favouriting, following and reviewing, as well as __**ShinigamiinPeru**__ for reviewing!_

_I would also like to thank__** Nats Kazcchi **__for following me and __**anyandeveryanime **__for following and favouriting me! I would also like to thank Emi-chan, Hui Hui and Senna my beta-readers!_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn…and please don't kill me if this chapter confuses you, just PM me or leave a review to clarify, ne?_

* * *

_**-Third Person's POV-**_

"_I'll take your silence as consent. For now, all of you are dismissed; we'll meet again tomorrow to compare skills and such." Reborn said while rudely kicking Lambo awake. "To…ler…ate…" Lambo cried before taking out his bazooka to shoot himself, not knowing that it was directed away from him…_

_Boom!_

The bullet flies toward Ryohei, his eyes widening as he responds to this new threat in the only way he knows how. He punches it away from him with a bandage-clad hand, shouting his maxim, "EXTREME!" as he did so. His fist faintly glows yellow; the bullet splits into halves, both parts heading in opposite directions. One ricochets off the pale wallpaper of Sawada's living room, leaving a scorch mark on the wall, spinning towards Yamamoto. The other half heads straight toward Reborn, who grabs a Leon-hammer and whacks it right at an unsuspecting female mafia boss.

Dark pink smoke engulfed the room; everyone just remained in whatever positions they previously were, stunned.

_What…just happened?_

"Why isn't the smoke clearing?" A very familiar voice asked. Waving away the smoke, TYL!Tsumi stepped forwards. She was dressed in a lavender-coloured blouse with a black skirt, long-sleeved jacket and tie; the Marea ring sat on the middle finger of her right hand. Her dark-oak hair was a lot shorter, only just brushing against her shoulders. Her fringe was long, and slanted to the left, covering part of her face.

The two Marea Guardians were shocked, as was everyone in the room.

"Maa maa, just be patient, Tsumi; the bazooka must have malfunctioned again. Though it feels weird to be transported back into the past, it's usually Lambo who goes back…" TYL!Yamamoto was seen leaning against the wall when the smoke cleared. He was dressed in a blue shirt with a pair of black long pants, long-sleeved jacket and tie; the Vongola Rain ring rested on the middle finger of his right hand as well. A katana was hanging loosely in his hand. There was a prominent scar on his chin; his hair was shorter than his present self's. "But it's just a meeting after all, so I'm sure that we won't miss much…" This sentence earned him a glare from Tsumi.

"Wait, Yakyuu-baka! You were in a meeting? Was it between the Allied Families?" Gokudera asked hurriedly.

"What's the EXTREME Allied Families?" Ryohei said in his normal volume – which was still enough to deafen everyone close to him. Of course, he was ignored by Gokudera.

"G-Gokudera! It's rude to ask…and to call people names…" Tsuna said nervously, drawing everyone's attention to him. Gokudera started apologising profusely to his Juudaime, saying that he'll not do it again.

"Ah, Tsuna!" Yamamoto smiled. "And its fine actually, hearing Hayato call me that brings back memories of the past, doesn't it?" That last bit was directed at Tsumi, who merely raised an eyebrow slightly, ignoring Gokudera's protest at Yamamoto calling him by his name, which earned quite a few chuckles from those present. Of course, Gokudera's earlier question was forgotten, or maybe just ignored by the two Mafioso from the future.

"Kufufu…it's already been five minutes." Mukuro laughed creepily, giving Yamamoto and Tsumi a sideways glance.

Hibari's lips curved upwards slightly into a small smirk, just for a fraction of a second. _Looks like the herbivores' future selves will be staying here for some time…_

_**-(TYL) Tsumi's POV-**_

Wait…what? It's already been five minutes? That means…we're most likely stuck here for a while. Takeshi doesn't understand the importance of that meeting…plus the Varia will most likely be there at any moment, our younger selves are in danger of getting killed.

"They won't. Not if future Tsuna has anything to say about it." Reborn interjected, looking slightly smug. I just send a cold glare at him in the way I've perfected during my ten years as a mafia boss, but Reborn doesn't look too affected, pretty much like how his future self was. That's right…his future self. I'd forgotten how much the Arcobaleno were missed, especially Reborn. But upon seeing his past self…I guess I don't miss Reborn so much after all. But this trip was worth it if I got to see the younger selves of my guardians, before…_that_ happened. And it wasn't exactly a foolproof plan; if it failed…

"When will we go back?" I growl at Reborn.

"I don't know," he replies in that annoying tone of voice. A wave of anger visibly crosses my face.

"Calm down, Tsumi." Yamamoto says again with an easygoing smile. "Be positive! Think about what our past selves are going through right now!"

That's right. My past self…What would she be doing? Who would she be talking to? If I were her…wait, that's stupid. I _am_ her, just older by ten years. I would be…asking people about the meeting. Who was I sitting next to again?

…Kyoya…

Oh, no. No…this can't happen. This can't be happening…

My face turns from angry to ashen as my mind faintly registered the worried voices of my guardians and the Vongola.

_Whatever did I do to deserve this?_

* * *

_~In the future~_

_**-Tsumi's POV-**_

When the pink dust semi-clears, I'm sitting at a large, oak table on a comfortable leather armchair. I'm in some sort of meeting room, and around the table are the older versions of my guardians and the Vongola guardians.

They all look so…different.

Just when the pink dust is almost gone and I'm finally able to make out some details, a huge "Bang!" rings out and more pink dust comes.

Honestly. How irritating. I feel like killing someone…and the idiot who was shot by the bazooka after me will be my target.

Almost directly across from me, the Yamamoto I know, from my time, appears. He blinks confusedly. I glare at him, but it was wasted. He just laughs it off like he always does. Never mind, when we get back to our own time…he's going to face hell.

"Ahaha! What's going on?"

That question is echoed by several of the Guardians. Well, not the laugh though.

I look next to me. Hibari is sitting there, looking at me with unconcealed interest. What is going on with him…? But, I can't deny that he's gotten remarkably more handsome. And that's saying something…wait a minute, why was I even bothering about that stupid skylark anyway? I shake my head in a clumsy attempt to dispel my current thoughts. Stupid teenage hormones…

"Where are we?" I asked. Even my own voice sounds foreign to me; it sounded more confident then I felt right now. Well, at least that was one thing covered; I don't have to learn how to sound confident even if I'm actually terrified on the inside.

"Tsumi!" Sasagawa exclaims. I study him closely. His close cropped hair has slightly grown out, and he has grown slightly taller, but the main differences about him are the look in his eyes and the way he holds himself. He used to be frantic, rushing and eager but now he's different. He's calmer (sort of), certain, and confident.

"You and Takeshi are currently in the meeting room for the EXTREME Marea-Vongola alliance. The Varia and Dino might EXTREMELY drop in, though, if they're free. We are EXTREMELY discussing the current threat from the Millefiore Famiglia…" As he talks about what perils I face in the future, I listen attentively, my mind automatically tuning out the 'EXTREME's. I need to learn about this, so that I know what to do when Tsuna and the rest are sent to the future to face Byakuran. However, Gokudera slaps Sasagawa's shoulder just as the latter started talking about the strategies that they are planning to do.

Gokudera has grown immensely. His haircut is slightly more layered, and his eyes possess the same calm confidence Sasagawa's have. Is everybody like this? What have we done in the last ten years? Gokudera looks completely different from his past self and I'm slightly scared that all these people that I know so well have changed.

"Are you stupid? Don't tell her that! We could change the course of time!" A bright passion burns in Gokudera's eyes, the one he always gets when he's talking about the extraterrestrial and the unknown, much like the one ten years ago, and I feel slightly relieved. So maybe they didn't change too much.

But…did I change, too?

"Ahaha, so what's the Millefiore Famiglia? Is it another branch in the mafia game?" Yamamoto laughs, to the amusement of some guardians, especially Sora. I roll my eyes, however. I'd forgotten how he still thinks that the mafia is a _game_.

"You'll find out in future, Takeshi." Tsuna smiles, whilst in the background I can hear Gokudera telling Ryohei "You shouldn't have told them that, we could cause a time paradox…" and the like.

I sighed and tuned out the noise in the meeting room, leaning back on the leather armchair and started to sort out my thoughts, trying to ignore the curious stares I received from several guardians. Namely Mukuro, Hotaru (though hers was more of an amused glance), Lambo and of course, that irritating skylark who was seated beside me.

Unfortunately, the first thought in my head was: _I had no idea TYL!Tsuna looked like this; why didn't Amano Akira show his face?! And why won't that skylark quit staring?!_

Mentally slapping myself, I moved on to sort out more important things.

_First things first: from what Ryohei let slip, I know that in the future I'll be up against the Millefiore, just like the original series. So it looks like our arrival here hasn't changed the timeline of the manga/anime, since I have no idea whether the Inheritance Arc will take place. However, I can't be sure, but judging from the way things are, I guess the situation with Byakuran is much worse than it seems…maybe our presence has changed some things after all?_

A sudden "VOOOIII!" forced me out of my train of thoughts. Snapping my eyes open, I turn around to glare at a familiar swordsman with long silver hair; if anything, his hair is even longer in the future then in the past. He glared back at me, before seating himself at the other end of the table.

Next, a guy with curly blond hair with his bangs covering his eyes walked into the room. "Shishishishi, bow down, peasants. The Prince is here." He announced rather egoistically, moving to sit beside the swordsman.

A flamboyantly dressed male entered the room, cooing at Ryohei as he walked by, followed soon after by a guy wearing a frog hat. A tall male with fiery red eyes and jet-black hair that was not as spiked as his past self's walked into room; immediately, the temperature in the room dropped and a menacing aura made its presence known. A male with very spikey hair and a long moustache came running in not long after, shouting "Bossu! Why didn't you let me know you had already entered?!"

I mentally facepalmed; the infamous Independent Assassin Squad of the Vongola Ninth had just arrived.

* * *

_~In the past~_

_**-Third Person's POV-**_

"So, seeing as you are most probably stuck here for a while, why don't you two spar with Dame-Tsuna and one of his guardians?" Reborn smirked.

The two guardians (well, the mafia boss and the guardian) from the future looked at each other for a spilt second before agreeing.

"Ahaha, why not?"

"…fine."

"HIEEEE!" Tsuna shrieked, rather alarmed at the thought of facing his guardians' future selves.

"Dame-Tsuna, pick one of your guardians to be your partner." Reborn started walking out the door. "You can battle at the park, there should be no-one there at this time."

"Eh?! WHAT?!"

_~In the school grounds~  
_

_**-Third Person's POV-**_

"Ahaha, so who are you picking, Tsuna?" Yamamoto smiled, swinging his katana around to warm up. Tsumi merely stood there, looking bored. She didn't even bother taking out her weapon.

"E-er…" Tsuna bit his lip, looking very uncomfortable.

"Juudaime! I volunteer to be your partner!" Gokudera, the ever-faithful right-hand puppy shouted.

"What were we EXTREMELY talking about again?" Ryohei shouted.

"Shut up, Turf-top! You're too loud!" Gokudera shouted back, irritated at 'that Turf-top who causes nothing but trouble for Juudaime'.

"Kufufufu~ The pot's calling the kettle black, isn't it, my dear Chrome?" Mukuro laughed.

Chrome nodded slightly. "Yes, Mukuro-sama…"

"Hn. Shut up, herbivores." Hibari said, stepping forward and taking out his tonfas. "I'll be your opponent." He glanced at Reborn, who nodded as he took up a fighting stance.

"HIEEE! Hibari-san!" Tsuna shrieked, panicking.

"Just get on with it, Dame-Tsuna." Reborn smirked from his perch on a branch as the rest of the guardians who were not participating in the battl-I mean _training_, stepped back. Hotaru and Sora were already seated down under the tree, getting ready to watch a good show.

Swallowing his Dying Will pills, Tsuna entered his Hyper Dying Will Mode. "Let's begi-"

However, before he could even finish his sentence, a dark blur shot right past him, slamming him into the tree by the sheer force of contact alone.

"Maa maa, go easy on him, Tsumi." Yamamoto reprimanded, smiling as he defended himself against Hibari's relentless stream of attacks.

"And achieve what, the wasting of time? You had better focus on your own battle instead of mine, due to certain…circumstances." Tsumi said curtly; she was leaning against a tree, seemingly bored, while Tsuna got up shakily.

_Hm…I need to train Dame-Tsuna more._ Reborn frowned slightly.

Yamamoto laughs off Tsumi's blunt remark as he does battle with Hibari. Shingure Kintoki and tonfas clashed as Yamamoto and Hibari fought at a speed almost impossible to follow with the human eye; Rain and Cloud flames clashed as both parties unleashed a relentless torrent of furious attacks aimed to defeat the other. However, the latter was slowly being overpowered; trees, shrubs and grass around them were scorched and uprooted due to the ferocity of the battle.

Clenching his fists, Tsuna's X-Gloves lit up with his Sky flames as he aimed a punch at the Tsumi's head. A sliver flash lit up the area, fading away to reveal Tsuna's punch being blocked by a pair of swords; an open box on a chain hung out from her black jacket.

"Not bad. But you'll have to do better." Tsumi remarked casually, before pushing Tsuna backwards.

"Reverse Swallow Strike." The blade in her right hand glowed sliver as she moved forward to attack.

Yamamoto smiled slightly, some of the warmth slowly draining away from his eyes as he blocked another of Hibari's tonfas. "Reverse Swallow Strike? She intends to finish this fast, huh…"

"Your opponent is _me_, omnivore." Hibari snarled, swinging a tonfa that connected with Yamamoto's torso. Pressing a hidden button, spikes appeared all over the tonfa, which caused a gaping wound to appear in Yamamoto's torso as he pulled his tonfa out.

Yamamoto winced slightly, but managed to defend himself from the next few blows of the spiked tonfas. Hibari attacked him again and again; Yamamoto's shoulder was jarred from the impact of a tonfa. Taking advantage of the spilt-second hesitation, Hibari hit Yamamoto with one final blow.

_Bang!_

A loud explosion occurred just as Hibari flung Yamamoto into the trees. When the smoke cleared, both Tsuna and Yamamoto were on the ground. The former had fallen out of his Hyper Dying Will Mode as he lay on his back, panting. He also had some cuts and bruises. Yamamoto had stood up, leaning against the tree for support. He only had that single wound on his torso, but he was clutching his right shoulder, which had started bleeding on impact.

"Injury not fully healed…" Tsumi remarked, earning a soft sigh from Yamamoto in return as she moved forward to stand about six paces from Hibari.

"As Yamamoto and Dame-Tsuna are out, the battle will continue with Tsumi and Hibari." Reborn said, jumping onto Tsuna's head from the branch, earning a yelp of pain from the latter. Gokudera rushed over and started fussing over his boss, while the rest of the guardians remained where they were, eager to watch the remaining two guardians battling.

"Maa maa, do your best, Tsumi! Hibari is no easy pushover, even from this time." Yamamoto grinned, but it was a little strained.

Tsumi nodded once, the corners of her lips curving upwards slightly before darting forward and attempting to land a strike. However, Hibari was ready for her; his tonfas blocked her swords with a resounding 'Clang'. A smirk crossed Tsumi's face as she started a stream of continuous attacks; a mirroring smirk crossed Hibari's as metal met metal in a brutal, furious match. No flames were exchanged between the two; almost as if this had become a match where their pride was at stake.

Most of the tenth generation Vongola guardians were staring at the fighting duo, shocked; Reborn had lowered his fedora, smirking while Mukuro looked interested. Yamamoto, on the other hand, was frowning slightly…almost as if he had not expected this.

"What's wrong, Yamamoto-kun?" Tsuna asked hesitantly, looking at the future self of his Rain Guardian.

Laughing slightly, Yamamoto smiled at the younger self of his boss. "It's nothing to worry about, Tsuna. You see, I never expected Tsumi to hold back…" The shocked look on Tsuna's face made him chuckle slightly.

"HIEEE! Tsumi-san's actually holding back?!" Tsuna shrieked, much to Yamamoto's alarm. Everyone turned to look at the young Don, who was still in too much shock to anything other than to stare at the future self of the Marea Decimo.

"So what if I am?" Tsumi replied coolly as she defended herself against Hibari's relentless attacks that had only increased in strength as he became pissed off upon finding out that she was holding back.

"Why are you holding back, herbivore?" The skylark snarled, furious. "Do you honestly think I am that weak?" Pressing a hidden button, chains shot out of the tonfas as he started whirling them around. Purple flames danced along the chains as the propagation ability of the cloud flames lengthened the chains; his furious attacks were slowly but surely forcing her back.

"To increase the size of the flame on the ring is to be pissed off." Tsumi quoted, lips curving up to form a smirk. "Anyone recognise that line?"

Hotaru and Sora were shocked for a second, before chuckling; the rest of the Mafioso in the clearing looked puzzled.

"Quit talking and _fight_, omnivore." Grey-blue orbs narrowed as Hibari's cloud flames flared even higher; a stream of powerful attacks followed, never giving his opponent a chance to attack back.

Moving in close, her swords blocked his tonfas as a smirk crossed her face. "You'll regret it, _Kyoya_." A brilliant flash of silver accompanied by an explosion occurred as Tsumi unleashed her flames.

_What?!_

All the Mafioso was thinking of the same thing. For when the smoke cleared, the battlefield was clearly visible. Shattered chains littered the grass around the previously fighting duo; Hibari was disarmed, with a sword pressed against his neck. His tonfas were lying on the ground a couple of meters away from him, purple cloud flames dying.

"Told you." Tsumi smirked, before withdrawing her sword from Hibari's neck; both swords vanished in a flash of silver flames. Hibari looked furious, but said nothing as he picked up his tonfas.

"By the way, Tsuna, train hard for your next trial." She said cryptically, before dark pink smoke appeared with a 'Poof'.

Puzzled, Tsuna turned to look at Yamamoto, but only saw dark pink smoke surrounding the area where Yamamoto was earlier.

"Superbi Squalo, the next time I see you I swear I will-" The dark-oak haired girl stopped abruptly when she realised that she was no longer in the future.

"Will what, Bossu?" Hotaru teased her boss, to Sora's horror. "Rant about XS? Trash his room? Highlight his hair pink and braid it?"

"…Actually, dyeing his hair pink _permanently_ is a not a bad idea. Combine it with cutting off his balls…" Tsumi smirked evilly; killer intent could be felt radiating off her.

"HIEEE!" Tsuna shrieked, as he realised what his fellow mafia-boss-to-be said.

"How dare you say such foul words in Juudaime's presence, you stupid woman!" Gokudera shouted, enraged that his precious Juudaime's ears were exposed to such foul words.

"Maa maa, calm down, both of you…" Yamamoto sweatdropped, but nevertheless still had a smile on his face.

"MIND YOUR LANGUAGE, WOMAN!" Hotaru punched Tsumi on her arm, earning herself a filthy glare from the latter.

"If all of you are done with your childish squabbling, we're heading back now. I don't want to miss Maman's dinner." Reborn said, starting on the path back to town.

"Ahaha, that's right! It's almost dinner time!" Yamamoto laughed, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Hotaru, Sora, let's go! See you tomorrow, Tsuna, Gokudera, Tsumi!" Waving, Hotaru and Sora followed Yamamoto, while Tsuna waved back. Tsumi rolled her eyes, while Gokudera 'Che'd.

"Oh yeah, where's Onii-san, Hibari-san, Mukuro and Chrome-chan?" Tsuna asked, just realizing that almost everybody had gone.

"Idiot Dame-Tsuna." Reborn stopped, fixing Tsuna with his piercing gaze. "They all left, obviously. Let's go already; Maman should be done with dinner soon."

"Eh?! Really?" Tsuna asked incredulously, looking around. "Wait-Tsumi-san's gone too!"

Ignoring his student, Reborn walked away with Gokudera – whom he had convinced to join them for dinner – while Tsuna chased after them.

"Wait up, Reborn!"

* * *

_Omake: Gokudera's promises_

"G-Gokudera! It's rude to ask…and to call people names…" Tsuna said nervously, drawing everyone's attention to him.

"Please accept my sincerest apologies, Juudaime!" Gokudera bowed. "I promise that I will not repeat this mistake again!"

"G-Gokudera! Please get up! You don't have to bow!" Tsuna shrieked, flustered.

"Maa maa, don't get so flustered, Tsuna!" TYL!Yamamoto chuckled, placing an arm around the brunet's shoulder.

"DON'T GET SO CLOSE TO JUUDAIME, YAKYUU-BAKA!"

* * *

_As to what happened in the future (and what TYL!Squalo did to piss Tsumi off), I'll leave it up to your imagination! XD And yeah, my chapters (for this story) are getting longer and longer...which equates to less frequent updates, and since I'm already on a semi-hiatus, chapters might take longer to be written._

_Please review/favourite/follow!_

_CrimsonSkyTamer  
6__th__ May 2013_


	7. The beginning of the apocalypse

_**[Chapter 5: The beginning of the apocalypse]**_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. (I will probably not repeat this disclaimer anymore…)_

_Warning: OOC-ness and lots of curse/swear words. Not that the latter is of any concern, this is a T-rated fic after all…_

* * *

"_Are you sure about this, Juudaime?" A pair of emerald orbs stared worryingly at a pair of caramel brown ones. Though the latter pair reflected the former's worry, they also shone slightly with warmth and determination._

"_I'm sure, Hayato." A soft smile crossed the brunet's face. Six years…it's been six long years since he found his family in middle school and two years since he officially became the Vongola Decimo. All of them have changed over time, some in more ways than the others._

"_But isn't there another way, Tsuna?" Hayato looked like he was about to question his boss's decision, but was beaten to it by a tall, tanned person with a scar on his chin and a katana slung across his back._

"…_I do not believe so." A frown momentarily crossed the brunet's face, before it was replaced by a sad smile. "As much as I hate to do this, my intuition tells me that it is a necessity…to stop Byakuran from tampering with the Tri-Ni-Set."_

"_Then go ahead." A flash of silver travelled through the air, drawing all eyes. It landed on the table, right in front of the brunet._

_It was the Vongola Cloud Ring._

"_Who are we to question your Hyper Intuition?" was the raven-haired guardian's last statement before he left the room._

"_Kufufu~ Who are we indeed…" Standing up, an indigo-haired guardian removed the ring on the middle finger of his right hand before tossing it to the brunet, who caught it with ease. Beckoning to the purple-haired female guardian, mist filled the room for a brief instant before clearing almost immediately, revealing that the two Mist guardians had vanished. Used to his Mist guardians' dramatic entrances and exits, the brunet rubbed his temples with a soft sigh._

_Standing up, a young black-haired teen bit his lip. "Lambo…trusts Tsuna-nii." With a soft 'clank', the Vongola Lightning Ring joined the two others on the table, courtesy of its guardian as he ran out of the room with a small sad smile._

"_If Tsuna extremely says so, then I'll gladly do it!" With a smile as bright as the sun that he embodied, a white-haired boxer passed the Vongola Sun Ring to the brunet, who returned a gentle smile to his older brother. Grinning, the Vongola Sun guardian rushed out of the room to do some "EXTREME training"._

_A heavy silence weighed down on the remaining three occupants of the room; both the Storm and the Rain felt compiled to obey their Sky's wishes, yet it somehow felt…wrong._

"…_You know…you don't have to force yourselves to do this." Tsunayoshi said softly, looking at his Storm and Rain guardians._

"…_Juudaime…" Hayato bit his lip. As faithful as he was, his 'right-hand man' intuition told him that destroying the Vongola rings was not a good idea._

"…_Well, if it comes down to this, then I guess I trust you more then I trust myself, Tsuna." Smiling, said guardian took off the Vongola Rain ring, and passed it to the brunet._

"_Arigato, Takeshi." Returning his Rain guardian a smile, the Sky watched as his Rain guardian left the room with a grin._

"_Che. That Yakyuu-baka never changes." Hayato remarked, lips curling upwards in a small grin…but a grin nonetheless._

"_Yeah." Tsuna smiled at Hayato, much like how one would smile at a best friend. "You're still the same Hayato I met in middle school too, just that now you've become a great right-hand man as well."_

_Hayato smiled back, but it was soon replaced by a sober look. "If there really is no other way…"_

_Tsuna's caramel eyes seemed to darken slightly, a frown marring his gentle features for an instant before it was wiped away. "I really don't know, Hayato…sometimes it feels as though this decision is wrong, yet…" _

"_Yet nothing." Hayato smiled at his boss. "I will support you all the way, Juudaime." Taking off the Vongola Storm ring, the silver-haired guardian handed it over to the brunet, who took off his Vongola Sky ring and placed it along with the six other rings on the desk._

"_Then…I shall take my leave." Hayato bowed, before leaving the room and shutting the door behind him._

_Left alone in the room, which seemed darker than ever, the Sky sighed. Looking at the seven rings glinting innocently on the table, the brunet raised a glowing hand, ready to burn the rings…_

* * *

_**-Third Person's POV-**_

Tsuna woke up with a jolt; a scream dying on the edge of his lips as he realised that he was still in his room…and that Reborn was still sleeping.

'_Wouldn't want to wake him up and receive twice the amount of hellish training just for a weird dream now, would I…'_ Tsuna thought wryly as he sat up on his bed. What _was_ that dream anyway? It was like a weird preview of the future…

With a sigh, the mafia-boss-to-be lay down on his bed once more, staring out his window watching the sky become lighter as the sun rose, signaling the start of a new day.

* * *

_~Later, in school~_

"-udaime?" A familiar voice snapped the brunet out of his reverie.

"Ah. Gomen, Gokudera-kun." Smiling sheepishly, Tsuna rubbed the back of his head. "I wasn't really paying attention…"

"Haha, no worries, Tsuna!" Smiling, Yamamoto slung an arm over the brunet's shoulder, ignoring the cuss-filled protests from the silver-haired delinquent. "Gokudera was just asking whether you would like to join us for lunch."

"Don't invite yourself, Yakyuu-baka!" Furious, Gokudera took out his dynamites…only to be stopped by a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"Maa maa, can't we all get along?" Smiling, Yamamoto swung his hand over Gokudera's shoulder as well, and dragged them both out of the classroom. "C'mon, I'm sure the girls are waiting at the roof already!"

* * *

_~At the rooftop~_

_**-Third Person's POV-**_

"So…you going to tell us what happened in the future or not?" Hotaru asked, savoring the sushi that Tsuyoshi had made for her that morning.

Looking at her two buddies, Tsumi gave an exasperated sigh before returning to her book; her bento by her side, untouched. "No is no. Now stop bugging me."

"But we wanna know…" Sora glared _(read: pouted)_ at Tsumi, who was unaffected. She was used to it after all. "And why were you talking about dying Squalo's hair pink and cutting off…something?"

Hotaru burst out laughing, while a grin tugged at the corners of Tsumi's lips. "You don't have to know." Both said simultaneously, before turning to each other with a wry smile on their faces.

"Brofist?" Asked the dark-oak haired girl, who was replied cheerfully by the raven-haired one.

"Brofist." Bumping their right fists together, the two returned to reading their book and eating their lunch respectively.

"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Trying – and failing – to glare at the smirking duo, Sora sighed, then returned to the starting topic of their highly important – not – discussion. "So…is this the manga? Or the anime?"

Hotaru shrugged. "No idea. Ask the boss. Right, Tsu-chan?" Looking pointedly at Tsumi, Hotaru frowned when she got no reply. Putting down her almost-empty lunch box, she snatched the book out of Tsumi's hands, and within seconds, escaped to the safety of the other side of the roof.

"…Hotaru." No longer joking, Tsumi glared at the raven-haired female, who unfortunately wasn't affected due to years of being around the dark-oak haired female. "Return me my book. _Now_."

"Not unless you answer our questions." Hotaru taunted Tsumi, who stood up, tensing.

Sora looked at her two best friends with a sigh. _'This never ends well…'_

"Only if you return the book."

_Thud!_ "Now…what happened in the future?"

"…A meeting between the Vongola and Marea, which the Varia gatecrashed." Tsumi said nonchalantly, sitting back down as she opened her book once more.

'_I take that back. They got along just fine.' _Sora sweatdropped as Hotaru looked at her, as if to say 'Help me here'. Taking a look at Tsumi, who raised an eyebrow, Sora asked a question warily. "So…did you find out anything about the Future Arc?"

"What Future Arc?" Opening the door, Yamamoto grinned at the girls.

"Yeah, what Future Arc? Does it have something to do with UMAs?" Gokudera asked excitedly, always ready to talk about his favourite topic: the unknown.

Looking at the girls' panicked expressions _(read: Hotaru and Sora's panicked expressions, as well as Tsumi's carefully guarded 'how-are-we-going-to-explain-this-we're-so-screwed ' expression)_, Tsuna sighed. "Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto-kun…I don't think we should ask. I mean, it's none of our business, right?"

The duo reluctantly agreed, while the girls exchanged looks of relief.

* * *

_~Late that night…~_

_**-Tsuna's POV-**_

With a sigh, I placed my pencil down. I just can't concentrate on my work.

"Why have you stopped, Dame-Tsuna?" Reborn asks, ready to hit me with a Leon-hammer if I give him a half-assed answer.

For once, my intuition is not pointing out which path I should take…so I think I'll just tell the truth. "It's about Sora-chan, Hotaru-chan and Tsumi-san."

Leon reverted back into its chameleon form and climbed back onto its usual perch on Reborn's fedora as the latter frowned slightly. "What about them?"

"Well…they mentioned something about a 'Future Arc'." I said slowly, to which Reborn glared in reply, Leon turning into a green gun.

"HIEEEE! Don't shoot! My intuition just told me that this 'Future Arc' thing concerns everyone and is very important; and they were panicking when Gokudera-kun and Yamamoto-kun asked them what this 'Future Arc' thing was!" I babbled, fearing for my life.

Reborn smirked and stroked Leon, which had turned back into a chameleon once again. "That wasn't so hard, was it, Dame-Tsuna?"

With a sigh, I realised that Reborn had played the 'intimidation' card…and I had fallen for it.

"Finish your Maths homework. I'm going to…see if I can find more information on this 'Future Arc'." With a self-satisfied smirk, Reborn jumped out of my bedroom window.

I picked up my pencil and resumed solving the problem sums on the worksheet once more. A twinge of guilt nagged at me for setting Reborn on the case – albeit unintentionally, but if anyone could find out the secret, Reborn could.

* * *

_~Next morning…~_

_RINGGGGG!_

The blaring of my alarm clock woke me up. Still half-asleep, I fumble around, eventually turning off the alarm clock, all the while trying to figure out what was missing from my usual morning schedule…and why I was up at 7am in the morning when school started at 8am.

…nope, my famed Hyper Intuition wasn't telling me anything, apart from the general sinking feeling in my gut. And a reminder that the alarm clock was what woke me up in the first place.

With a sigh, I change into my school uniform, grab my school bag and walk down the stairs, heading for the kitchen. Okay, more like I _tried_ to walk down the stairs, but tripped over and fell down all the way to the ground floor, face-first.

"Ara~? Tsu-kun, you're up early today!" Mum smiled at me from the kitchen. "You can have the first omelet, Tsu-kun, seeing as you're the first one awake."

"Itadakimasu!" Smiling, I put down my school bag and was about to tuck in when Mum asked me a question: one that I should have thought of earlier.

"Tsu-kun, do you know where Reborn-kun is?"

_Shock. Pure shock was the only thing that registered…but it was soon followed by dread._

"Hm? Tsu-kun?"

_It's started…the Future Arc has started. And all hell will break loose…_

* * *

_Argh...I'm really sorry for this short chapter, but I won't be able to access the internet for about two weeks, so I just decided to post whatever I have. Hontoni gomenasai..._

_Unfortunately, I'm not done with Unspoken Promises yet, so it won't be up so soon. I'll try in 3 weeks time, though. :D_

_Jaa ne!_

_CrimsonSkyTamer  
13th June 2013_


	8. Regrets

_**[Chapter 6: Regrets]**_

_Hey minna! I'm uploading this one day before I have to return to school, so…please don't kill me. ^^||| _

_Before I forget, a big thanks to __**summer999**__ for beta-ing this chapter (and the dirty dishwater joke), even though she has a lot on her plate. :D_

_Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: All rights go to their respective owners. I only own my plot, future box weapons and et cetera. Hotaru and Sora belong to Senna and Hui Hui respectively._

_Warning: OOC-ness?_

* * *

_**-Tsuna's POV-**_

"Sawada, what is EXTREMELY troubling you?"

I sigh, looking at my friends - fine, my guardians. Onii-san, Gokudera-kun, Yamamoto- kun, Sora-chan, Hotaru-chan and Tsumi-san were gathered at the roof for lunch, as usual. I don't know how to think of them, to be honest. I'm technically the boss, but...even after so long, I don't think of myself as a mafia boss. Just thinking about that scares me. No matter how many friendly Famiglias I meet, such as the Cavallone and the Marea, the mere mention of Mafioso freaks me out.

I look at the three guardians of the Marea and I frown slightly. Why are they being so quiet? They're normally anything but.

Could I tell them...?

"It's nothing much, Onii-san. It's just that-"

"Reborn went on a holiday to Italy, right?"

Everyone looked at Hotaru-chan, who seemed undisturbed.

"Eh, I thought-" Sora-chan began, but was silenced by a look from Tsumi-san.

"Ah yes, I would like to talk to you regarding your training, Tsunayoshi." Tsumi-san stood up with her bag, clearly expecting me to follow her. I hastily stand up.

However, when Gokudera-kun made to stand up, she glared at him. "In private, if you please."

"A-Ah, Gokudera-kun, I'll be fine." I smile at him reassuringly, before following Tsumi-san back into the deserted hallway of the third floor. No matter how much I got to know Tsumi-san, she does not scare me any less than the day I first met her. Not unlike Hibari-san.

"Ano...what about my training did you want to talk about, Tsumi-san?"

"Your Hyper Intuition should have already told you what I was going to talk to you about, didn't it?" Tsumi-san leaned against the wall, sling bag in hand.

"...yeah. It's about Reborn, isn't it?" I said, my sunset-orange eyes glowing faintly. Don't ask me how I know, I just do.

She smiled. A small, sad smile, but a smile nonetheless. "Please tell Reborn that he'll understand everything soon."

My eyes widen in shock; Tsumi-san pulled out a familiar purple bazooka before shooting me with it. I try to move out of the way, but I don't make it. I raise my arm up in a clumsy parry, but that also doesn't work.

_Poof!_

"I hope you can forgive me...Tsunayoshi."

* * *

_**-Tsumi's POV-**_

I walk back to the rooftop in silence, only to be greeted by Gokudera's enraged cry of "Where's Juudaime, you stupid woman?!"

"...He couldn't believe what Reborn set for his training, so he went home to pack and then go to Italy to confirm it with Reborn." I said, tone and face perfectly neutral.

"Haha, so Tsuna's gone to Italy?" Yamamoto laughed.

I rolled my eyes mentally. There should be a law against being as oblivious as Yamamoto.

"...You're lying." Gokudera said, glaring at me. "Juudaime would never leave without telling us first. Never." He moves his face close to mine in a furious stare.

"I never noticed that before." I say lightly.

"Noticed what?"

"That your eyes are the color of dirty dishwater." I snap, inwardly laughing at his look of shock.

"W-what?! They aren't! And Juudaime would never leave!"

"Not even if it concerned his tutor?" I counter, pulling out a book to read.

"Of cour-wait, is that [Angels & Demons]?" Gokudera hurriedly changed the subject.

"What kind of book is that to the EXTREME?" Ryohei shouted.

"You wouldn't understand, you stupid lawn-head!" Gokudera shouted, ignoring Yamamoto's and Sora's attempts to stop the fight.

During the commotion, Hotaru gave me a glance, to which I nodded.

* * *

_**-Gokudera's POV-**_

How could that stupid woman have that book? And she had the English copy too! And how dare she insult my eyes?! They're turquoise!

I was so preoccupied that I didn't notice that the remaining hour of school was over until Yakyuu-Baka walked over to my desk and shook me slightly.

"Hey, 'Dera, can you go over to Tsuna's place to return his schoolbag? I have baseball practice today, so I can't make it..."

I roll my eyes in annoyance. "Didn't that woman say that Juudaime was in Italy?" I gestured towards the girl beside me...only to find that she wasn't there.

Yakyuu-Baka laughed sheepishly. "Actually, 'Dera...Tsumi left as soon as school ended. Which was about 10 minutes ago."

"What?!" I stood up quickly in alarm. Wait...did he just...

"Did you just...call me 'Dera?!"

He laughed sheepishly, hand rubbing the back of his head. "Ahaha, sorry, Gokudera."

"Che." Taking a look at the clock, I realise that I'd better hurry if I was going to stop by Juudaime's house before heading off to restock my dynamites. With a small snort, I pick up my skull-patterned sling bag as well as Juudaime's orange backpack.

"Thanks, 'Dera!" Yakyuu-Baka shouts before leaving the room.

"Don't call me 'Dera!" I shout, before leaving the room. _

On the way to Juudaime's house, I spotted Juudaime's Marea guardians - in casual attire - heading towards a deserted alleyway. Actually...I probably wouldn't have noticed them if they hadn't been attempting to inconspicuously check their surroundings every now and then. Needless to say, they failed at it. Or rather, most of them did.

Of course, I walked over, wanting to know why they were behaving so suspiciously. That was when I heard it.

"Um, guys? Why are we even discussing this here?" The Comet guardian asked. Why were they there indeed...

"Because it's where we're most likely to be overheard." Sarcasm? From the girl that sat next to Juudaime?

"By a certain Smokin' Bomb, if I may add. Right, Gokudera?" So they - or maybe just that stupid woman - knew I was there all along.

"Che. So?" I rebuke. "If you don't want a tail, then don't behave so suspiciously."

The stupid woman smiled slightly. Wait...she smiled?!

"Well, I suppose that's true. Well, until the next time we meet..."

"What's that supposed t-"

_Poof!_

'I'm sorry for being being an incompetent right-hand man, Juudaime...' I apologised repeatedly in my head. However, when the pink smoke cleared, I saw a head of familiar gravity-defying brown hair sticking out of a coffin...wait. A COFFIN?! I let out a wordless cry of fear, terror, and disbelief.

"Gokudera-kun! Please calm down!"

"I'm sorry, Juudaime, but I can't! How could my future self have let you die? I swear, if I ever meet him, I'll-"

"Gokudera-kun! Now's not the time for this; your future self told me to get back soon and..." Juudaime smiled embarrassingly.

"And what, Juudaime?"

"...he never finished his sentence." Sweatdropping, Juudaime handed me my future self's briefcase.

"Good idea, Juudaime! Perhaps I left a note to remind myself!"

Rummaging through my briefcase, I find several small, intricate boxes...along with a note in G-script.

_Kill Shouichi Irie. Protect the Vongola Rings at all cost._

"Eh? What does that say, Gokudera-kun?" Ah right, I forgot Juudaime couldn't read G-script.

Reading it out to him, I look at Juudaime's worried face.

"Um...Gokudera-kun? How long has it been since you came to the future?"

My eyes widen slightly. "...more than five minutes..."

"So we're stuck here? HIEEEEE!"

"Tsuna?!"

Turning around, I see a familiar face. Lavender-coloured hair and eyes, along with a pale heart-shaped face.

"Sora-chan/Comet guardian?!"

* * *

_So yeah. As you probably have noticed, this doesn't exactly follow cannon. I'll probably include an omake on the girls' training and how Tsumi got hold of the bazooka in the next chapter. :D_

_Oh yeah, and my review goal is now 10, in honour of my new Varia fic with **summer999**. 10 reviews, okay, minna? :)_

_And if you're leaving a review: what's your Katekyo Hitman Reborn favourite pairing? And who do you think the girls will end up paired with? I'm curious! :D_

_Jaa ne~_

_CrimsonSkyTamer  
29th June 2013_


	9. Information -- Marea Flames

_**[Information]**_

_Hey minna! _

_No, this isn't an actual chapter. Before we go any further, I thought I'd just let you know more about the new flames, in case you haven't noticed that I deleted the earlier chapter on this._

_And yes, Chapter 7 is partially done. I'm not going to update an actual chapter till I get 10 reviews, though. So if you want another chapter…then review! :P_

_Jaa ne~_

_CrimsonSkyTamer  
3__rd__ July 2013_

* * *

_**~l Flame Types l~**_

_-Wind_

Representing obdurance, the Wind guardian never comprises, especially matters regarding the safety of the family. Always at the center of the attack, the Wind gives his all to vanquish all threats to the family.

The Wind flame has two forms, the hard and soft flame, much like the Sky flame. The hard Wind flame can pierce through any flame barrier - at the cost of damage to the user's weapon, depending on the quality and quantity of the flame - with several exceptions like the Tri-Ni-Set Sky barrier. The soft Wind flame, while retaining the ability of wearing down other flames, takes a longer time to break through barriers. This flame is less likely to cause damage to the weapon of choice, especially if the user has to resort to using his bare fists to fight.

_-Darkness_

Representing clairvoyance, the Darkness guardian predicts when and where the next attack will strike the family. A loner by nature, the Darkness conceals the family and destroys the attack, staying away from the family if need be.

The Darkness flame has the ability to create illusions, along with the detection of Dying Will Flames. However, if the target is shielded by a Mammon chain/cover, the latter ability can be fooled, unless the user is experienced.

_-Moon_

Representing manipulation, the Moon guardian understands and accepts the rest for who they are. Supported by the rest of the elements, the Moon shines, brightening up the Sky in his darkest hour.

The Moon flame is able to make others see things that aren't there in reality, though the objects are not manifested in real life. This ability works on everyone, though Mist users are more likely to resist it. Other abilities include being able to search through a person's memories (but if the user is not careful, the person may just die of brain damage :P).

_-Snow_

Representing purity, the Snow guardian is the pure, untainted heart of the family. The last resort when all else fails, the Snow binds the family together.

Much like the Glacier flame, the Snow flame can freeze water in its surroundings. However, the user must be in contact with the water body to freeze it for durations longer than a few minutes. The Snow flame can also freeze Rain flames; if the user is skilled, Rain flames can be converted into Snow flames, though it is a process that leaves the user vulnerable for a duration of time, depending on how much Rain flames are being converted.

_-Comet_

Representing hope, the Comet guardian is the driving force of the family. Always helping when the going is tough, the Comet is a key player, having an equal offensive and defensive ability.

The Comet and Sun flames are similar in several aspects. While the latter has the property of activation; the former enhances the abilities of the subject, such as speed and strength. While the Comet and Sun flames can be used together, both flames cannot be mixed during the healing process. Comet users have a healing rate that is slightly faster than other flame users, but due to their flames, they cannot be healed by Sun flames.


	10. The World, Ten Years into the Future!

_**[Chapter 7: The World, ten years into the future]**_

_Hey minna! ^^_

_As most of you may have guessed, the Future Arc is here, but it's not exactly cannon. It's quite close, but not quite. I'm not really happy with the way the manga focuses on the future with the guardians popping up randomly, so this version will include both present and future. More on the future bit though, so I'm sorry about that..._

_In canon, Irie Shouichi is the one who shoots the guardians (I'm not too sure, but this is what I've heard), but as you may have noticed, the Marea girls are the ones doing the shooting. I think it's more interesting than watching Shouichi shoot everyone, though he will get some screen time. :D_

_And also, I haven't got my 10 reviews… Many of you favourited and following this story, but didn't leave a review. Actually, screw this. I'm just going to update as usual. Just favourite and follow, please? :D_

_Disclaimer: All rights go to their respective owners._

_Warning: T for Gokudera's mouth._

* * *

_~Last chapter (Gokudera's POV)~_

_"So we're stuck here? HIEEEEE!"_

_"Tsuna?!"_

_Turning around, I see a familiar face. Lavender-coloured hair and eyes, along with a pale heart-shaped face._

_"Sora-chan/Comet guardian?!"  
_

* * *

_**-Third Person's POV-**_

Tsuna and Gokudera exclaimed simultaneously, staring at the Mafioso with dropped jaws.

Her purple hair was shorter, now tied into a single average-length ponytail. She was dressed in a black jacket, black skirt, white blouse and a lavender tie. However, the thing that shocked them the most was her eyes.

Those lavender eyes had seen too much pain, too much suffering, too much hardship.

"Tsuna, an ally should be coming soon. This ally will want to test you, so be on your guard, okay?" Sora smiled, albeit a little worriedly. Tsuna smiled when he saw that even though her eyes have changed, she still had that innocent, slightly spaced out tone to her voice.

"HIEE! What do you mean, Sora-chan?" Tsuna shrieked. Gokudera, however, caught her implication.

"Oi, woman...does this mean you're not going to help us?"

Sora bit her lip slightly. "I can't."

"Can't, or won't?" Gokudera countered, emerald eyes narrowed, as if daring her to contradict him.

"Can't." With that final statement, pink smoke surrounded her with a resounding 'boom'.

* * *

"Why do I have to go first?" Sora glared at her friends. Well…pouted, to be exact. "Besides, we all know cannon, so why not one of you go first?"

Noticing Tsumi's rapidly-whitening knuckles, Hotaru started to pry her boss's fingers off the bazooka, though she stopped short when she saw the look the former gave her. It was a blow, just as if the other had struck out with her fists. No, not her fists. A dagger.

"Eh, if it bothers you that much, then I'll go first." Unluckily – or perhaps luckily – for Hotaru, she was immune to glares.

Hearing something vibrate, Sora flinched, breaking the tension in the air.

"Enough time should have passed for Tsunayoshi and Gokudera to finish their discussion. You're leaving now." Her voice was cold and final as Tsumi aimed the bazooka at Sora.

_Poof!_

"…You didn't have to be so harsh. You could have just explained it…"

"Explain the fact that this is no longer cannon because we're here, and in addition, have possession of Lambo's bazooka instead of Irie?"

"We could have shot ourselves after the rest have gone, right? Sheesh, woman…"

"…fine. I wanted to shoot Hibari and watch his what-the-hell-just-happened face. Is that reason good enough for you?"

"…was that an attempt at sarcasm?"

* * *

The smoke cleared soon after, revealing Sora from the duo's time.

"Eh? Oh, hi Tsuna, hi Gokudera!" Sora smiled. "Have you met Lal yet?"

Raising an eyebrow, Gokudera stared at the lavender-haired girl who flinched slightly but attempted to hide it. "Who's that?"

"That would be me." A woman with messy, long blue hair stepped out of the shadowy thicket; her tan cape that darkened to crimson at the ends fluttered slightly with the movement. An infrared visor covered most of her face, and there was a gorilla mask on her right shoulder.

"HIEEEEE!" Tsuna's manly shriek rang clearly in the silent clearing as Lal smirked.

"Goodbye, fellows."

As quick as lightning, both her hands slipped out from under her cloak; the right had four rings, while on the left was a dull metal gauntlet.

"An enemy!" Gokudera scowled, running forward. "Juudaime, please stay back! I'll take her on!"

"G-Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna stuttered, fearing for the safety of his friend – I mean, right-hand man.

"Eh?! Don't be rash, Gokudera-kun!" Sora shouted, only to get ignored as said person threw dynamites at Lal, who merely dodged them with ease.

"Don't even think of running! Die!" Snarling, Gokudera unleashed his never-ending torrent of dynamites; Lal dodged each and every one of them, placing her right hand on her gauntlet for a brief moment as she did so.

Glowing indigo, a 'click' resounded from the gauntlet.

"Gokudera-kun! Watch out!" Tsuna shouted, having caught sight of the faint glow.

"It's too late." Aiming her gauntlet at Gokudera, Lal fired. A stream of six glowing indigo projectiles sped towards Gokudera, who dodged it half a second too late.

_Boom!_

An explosion resounded as both Tsuna and Sora were flung back a few meters.

"What the-?! It's hot!" Gokudera cursed, having accidentally touched the cage with his bare hands.

"This is bad, what do I do, Reborn?!" Tsuna asked, only to panic when he realised that Reborn wasn't there with him.

"As expected, the ring still can't be used properly. What a waste." Lal frowned, ignoring Gokudera's protests of "What do you mean, the ring still can't be used properly?"

"Don't hate me for this." With that, Lal pointed her gauntlet at Tsuna. "Now die."

"Run, Juudaime; she's dangerous!" Gokudera shouted, attempting to break free from the cage but to no avail.

"Tsuna, remember your dying will pills." Sora whispered hastily, taking out her whip. "I'll buy you some time."

"E-eh?! Sora-chan!" His protests were cut short as the girl started to run forwards, golden-auburn flames dancing along the edges of her whip.

"Interesting." Lal smirked slightly as she jumped back, dodging Sora's initial blows. "But I'll finish this fast."

9-mm bullets were shot repeatedly; the whip flashed and twirled as all the bullets were flung off-course. Both combatants were jumping around, never staying in one place for more than a second as their weapons met in a deadly dance. Awed, Tsuna and Gokudera could only stare, until…

"Tsuna! Your dying will pills! Now!" Sora shouted, whip snapping forward to fling another bullet away – only to realise her mistake. In her rush, she didn't pay attention to the projectiles shot…and now she would pay for it.

A cage similar to the one that held Gokudera trapped her, whip lying just out of her reach. "Aw damn…"

"You're next, Sawada." Turning back to face the brunet, Lal once again pointed her gauntlet at him. "There's no-one else left to save you. What will you do now?"

Putting on his white mittens, Tsuna popped two dying will pills in his mouth. _'I didn't want to take them…but I guess it can't be helped.'_

Piercing orange eyes stared straight at Lal as the brunet stood up, his black metal-clad gloves emitting orange flames similar to the one on his forehead.

Without a word, Lal jumped off the tree, shooting a series of bullets at Tsuna, who merely destroyed them with his Sky flames while propelling himself after her.

"Not bad destroying the 9-mm bullets." Landing gracefully on her feet, Lal sprung up, landing on the branch of another tree. "You know, I've been waiting for this."

"For the time when Tsuna-kun was in Hyper Dying Will Mode, right?" Sora smiled; background automatically becoming sparkly and flowery.

Lal looked shocked, but it soon turned to resignation. _'How could-no, it is to be expected from a member of the Marea, the Vongola's unforgiving hounds from hell…'_

"Careful, Juudaime! You've reached a crisis point; who attacks first now will gain the upper hand over the other!" Gokudera shouted, emerald green eyes flashing in anger and frustration. Anger at himself, for falling into a trap; frustration at not being able to help his beloved Juudaime.

"I understand, Gokudera-kun." Tsuna commented calmly, not showing any signs of attacking even with the advice of his Storm guardian.

"Lal, right?" Looking at the bluenette, who nodded stiffly once, Tsuna frowned slightly. "Why did you attack us? And why were you waiting for me to enter my Hyper Dying Will mode?"

Lal's infrared visor glowed slightly, before she spoke. "This next bullet is vastly different from the 9-mm lead shot, so your flames won't be able to extinguish it." Pointing her gauntlet at Tsuna, Lal fired.

A stream of six indigo bullets shot towards Tsuna, who launched himself off the tree trunk, only to have the bullets follow him around the clearing.

"A homing bullet! Juudaime's in trouble!" Gokudera shouted, taking out a couple of mini dynamites to throw at the indigo bullets.

"No, Gokudera-kun!" Sora shouted, just as a frowning Lal shot a lead bullet at the dynamite, which bounced off the bullet and back into Gokudera's cage.

_Boom!_

"Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna shouted, but the next moment, six indigo bullets slammed into him, resulting in an even bigger explosion in mid-air.

_BOOM!_

"How pathetic. I won't even let you catch your breath. If you die here, that means that you would have only been a burden." Lal spoke in a cold, detached tone. "If you want to live, you must first _survive_!"

Firing another stream of indigo bullets at Tsuna, Lal watched the resultant explosion with her mouth set into a thin, hard line.

"Juudaime!" A slightly burnt Gokudera shouted, clenching his fists. He should have been out there, fighting by his boss's side, but here he was, trapped in an indigo cage. _'I don't deserve to be Juudaime's right-hand man…'_

"I can't believe that you're only at this level even after being trained by Reborn. And to think that you beat Xanxus like this." Lal frowned. "You're useless unless Reborn is with you."

"How…do you know about Reborn?" Pants filled the air as a head of gravity-defying brown hair came into view, body set in a very familiar stance.

"Juudaime!" Gokudera called out in relief.

"Zero Point Breakthrough: Revised."

Lal looked slightly shocked, but recovered quickly. "A technique that allows it's user to absorb and purify the flames of another, adding the flames to the user's own storage…"

Using his flames to propel him across the clearing at a high speed, Tsuna punched Lal in the torso. "The bullets…how come you can use the dying will flames?"

Blood trickled out of Lal's mouth as she took the punch, and then returned one of her own – that Tsuna dodged – before jumping back and landing on a tree branch awkwardly, tan cape left lying on the floor. Underneath the cape were a brown tank top and a pair of tight blue shorts, along with several boxes attached to the belt on her waist.

"It seems as you _do_ have some potential after all, Sawada Tsunayoshi." The corners of her lips twitched as she continued her sentence. "Even at my full strength, it seems as though I can't beat your fighting power…but that was only at the old levels."

Sora's eyes widened as Lal brought the ring on her index finger to a small box attached to the belt on her waist. "At your current level, in this era…there's no way you can survive!" Beneath her visor, Lal's brown eyes flashed as she leapt from the branch, firing whatever was inside the box at Tsuna.

Shocked, Tsuna was caught off-guard; a glowing purple centipede surrounded him.

"Tsuna-kun, get out of there now!" Sora shouted, but the warning came too late. The centipede lengthened, until there were now many rings surrounding a shocked Tsuna.

On instinct, Tsuna grabbed it. Sky flames shot along the length of the centipede, which was blasted off his body with an intense emission of Sky flames, an explosion following the attack.

"Amazing! As expected of Juudaime!" Gokudera grinned in relief.

"Look carefully." Lal leaned against a tree trunk. "His plan backfired."

Barely keeping himself in the air, Tsuna seemed to be hardly pushing the centipede away from his. His harsh pants filled the air; his dying will flame seemed to have shrunk.

"Don't use your determination to flare out the flame." Lal commented. "Forcing out the energy just disperses it into the atmosphere; the flame isn't a toy."

"How…can it…be…?" Tsuna panted, orange eyes reverting back to a dull brown. With a dull 'thud', he crash-landed on the floor, while the glowing purple centipede remained floating in the air.

Emerald green eyes widened in horror. "Juudaime!"

"To think that you actually fell for such a basic trap..." Jumping over, Lal pointed her gauntlet at the exhausted Tsuna. "What a deplorable Vongola X."

"Now wait a fucking minute!" Gokudera grabbed the bars of his cage once more, only to let them go in order to nurse his burned hands. "Juudaime's not a cause for grief or regret!"

"No, Gokudera-kun…" Tsuna sighed, not able to muster up enough energy to even lift his head. "She's right…"

'_Without Reborn, I'm only half a man…if he were here, I wouldn't be like this!'_ Went unspoken, but everyone understood.

"…you pass. But barely." Lal commented, stretching out a hand to the centipede, which curled around it before returning to the box. The indigo cages also vanished. "I'll waive killing all of you for now."

"My name is Lal Mirch." Lifting her infrared visor, Lal scanned the now-partially destroyed clearing. "The struggle was too loud. At this rate, it's only a matter of time before they find us."

"How's your injury, Juudaime?" Gokudera asked, rushing over to his boss, but got hit in the head by a chain.

"Hurry up and wrap that chain around your rings." Throwing another two similar chains to Tsuna and Sora, Lal's brown eyes never left their surroundings. "The Mammon chains will hide the presence of your rings, but it does that by sealing its power."

"Wait. You turn up all of a sudden and attack us, and now you want us to follow your orders?!" Snarling, Gokudera took out a few dynamites. "Besides, just who are you, anyway?"

Swinging her tan cape around her shoulders, Lal glared at the two males. "Both of you stand out in your school uniforms, but it'll have to do."

Tsuna's jaw dropped, while Gokudera dropped his unlit dynamites in shock. _'We…were ignored?'_

'_Well…she probably isn't a bad guy…'_ Tsuna thought. _'At least, my hyper intuition isn't saying anything…'_

"Please wait a minute! We came from the past; we've been in shock until just now. I don't understand what in the world is happening!" Clenching his fists, Tsuna stood up shakily.

"…Don't talk back." Lal pointed her gauntlet at Tsuna, not even bothering to look at him, earning a "HIEEEE!" in return.

"Wait a minute! Why do we even have to fucking listen to your ass, anyway?!" Gokudera shouted.

"Guys who can't follow orders are better off dead then saved." Lal's brown eyes hardened as she started walking.

"And because you're short on time, right?" Sora smiled slightly, chasing after her and motioning for the guys to follow.

"…" Lal made no reply, but increased her speed. "Save the questions till we reach our destination."

"Destination?" Asked Tsuna, who was having a hard time keeping up. Gokudera brought up the rear, slowing down occasionally "to ensure that Juudaime doesn't get left behind".

"Your secret base of operations." Lal replied curtly.

"Our…secret base? This era's…" Gokudera's eyes widened.

"Wait…does this mean Reborn's there?" Brown eyes shone with hope, only to be crushed when Lal ignored his question.

"Stupid annoying bitch." Gokudera cursed under his breath, but was cut short by Sora, who turned around to glare (read: pout) at him.

"Don't call Lal that! And yes, Tsuna-kun, Reborn is there." Turning back to face the front with a smile, Sora hastened her speed to match Lal's.

"What do you mean, Yoruichi Sora?" Lal stopped abruptly, voice sounding a bit choked. "The reason why my body is developing towards adulthood is because the others are no more. I was unable to become like…Colonello, Viper, Skull, the others..." Lowering her head, Lal continued her sentence. "All of the Arcobaleno, the I Prescelti Sette…are dead."

A stunned silence fell upon the two boys, only to realise that Sora was still smiling.

"What's wrong with you, you stupid woman?!" Gokudera shouted. "Why are you still so fucking happy that Reborn-san is dead?"

"Because he's not." Smiling, Sora turned around to look at Gokudera, Tsuna and Lal. "Not dead, I mean."

"…how can that be?" Lal asked, in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "Byakuran has all the Arcobaleno pacifiers with the exception of Cole's…and mine. After all, my pacifier is useless to him." She said with a small sad smile, remembering her former student.

"Cole?" Tsuna asked, puzzled.

"Colonello." Lal turned around to face the duo, an unreadable expression in her brown eyes. "Now hurry up. We need to reach the base soon or they'll find us."

"A-ah, that's right!" Caramel eyes widened as Lal suddenly broke into a run; Gokudera, Tsuna and Sora all chased after her.

* * *

After a while, Lal had disappeared from sight; Tsuna was lagging behind the other two.

"Juudaime! Are you alright?" Gokudera asked with concern, personality soon doing a 180 flip as he cursed Lal for vanishing.

"Eto…if I remember correctly, Lal should be at a stream nearby…" Sora mumbled, looking at the dense jungle that now surrounded them.

"Wait…now that Sora-chan mentions it, I think I do hear a running stream…" Starting to carefully make his way forwards, Tsuna took the lead…only to trip over a tree root and crash into Lal.

"Juudaime!" Gokudera shouted, rushing to help his boss.

"Eh?! Tsuna, Lal, are you two okay?" Running forwards, Sora jumped over the tree root…but fell flat on her face. Picking herself up, she gave a sheepish grin.

"…You're useless." Brushing the non-existent dust off her tan cloak, Lal stood up. Punching the ring on her middle finger into a box weapon hanging from the inner folds of her cloak, she took out a small parachute and watched it fly away, all the while ignoring the three teens who were hurriedly drinking from the stream.

"Oi, stupid bitch, how long more do we have to run? Why haven't we reached the base yet?" Gokudera 'che'd, standing up.

"We're camping out here today." Was Lal and Sora's reply, the latter earning a strange look from the former.

"Eh?!" Was the two males' all-too-smart reply. "What do you mean, camping out?!"

"…You can't see in the dark." Lal said apathetically, Sora adding in a "Besides, it's too dangerous!"

"Bitch, don't you think you're pushing it?!" Gokudera snarled, only to back off when Lal pointed her gauntlet at him.

"That's my line." Her brown eyes narrowed, daring him to contradict her. When she didn't receive any reply, she lowered her gauntlet before continuing. "I'm only going to prepare food for Yoruichi and myself. You best get going before it gets dark."

"HIEE!" Tsuna shrieked at the prospect of finding his own food. "Um…but anyway, can we talk before that?"

"…There's no time." Lal stared at him, brown eyes hard as she watched Gokudera drag his boss away.

"You know, they aren't so bad once you get to know them well." Sora said gently, smiling at the stiff bluenette.

"They're still brats." The way Lal said it seemed as though it was the end of the discussion. "You can catch fish, right?" A blinding smile was her reply.

"Good. We're going to catch fish and get a shower at the same time."

* * *

_~With the boys~_

"I'm sorry, Juudaime! I was there the whole time, yet I couldn't stop that bitch from ordering you around!" Gokudera bowed repeatedly, head hitting the floor each time.

"I-It's fine, Gokudera-kun!" Sweatdropping, Tsuna tried to stop his right-hand man. "Ano, l-let's spilt up and maybe we'll cover more ground…"

"An amazing idea, as expected from Juudaime!" Gokudera praised, straightening up immediately.

And thus, the duo spilt ways, with a promise to head back to their camp before it got dark.

* * *

_~With Tsuna~_

_Thud!_

"Eh?! That tree root wasn't there before!"

.

.

.

_Wham!_

"HIEEEE! BEES!

.

.

.

"What can you eat in a forest, anyway…"

_THUD!_

"Wha-mph?!" Seeing a mushroom in front of him, the brunet shrieked.

"HIEEEEE! I ATE A TOADSTOOL!"

* * *

_~With Gokudera~_

"Hm…maybe I can catch some fish for Juudaime and myself…"

.

.

.

"Ah!" Upon reaching a small lake, Gokudera stopped short, seeing a figure in the water. "T-that's…"

Long blue hair cascaded past her shoulders, her four rings glinting. Lal Mirch was bathing in the pond.

* * *

_And cut! :P I'm evil, I know._

_Anyway…Please follow/favourite, even if you don't review! :D_

_CrimsonSkyTamer  
11th July 2013_


	11. Jungle Camp, Secret Bases and Gatherings

_**[Chapter 8: Jungle camp, secret bases and gatherings]**_

_Hey minna! :D_

_From now on, I'm writing all my chapters in third person's POV, with the exception for some parts._

_Oh yeah, and in case I forgot to mention it, Mukuro is still in Vendicare, 'cause this is the Future Arc. In the earlier chapters, his consciousness was present, but his being was manifested as an illusion created by Chrome._

_And I wanna try something new, so…question time! Best answer will be posted in the next chapter! (I'll tell you my answer in the next chapter! :D)_

* * *

_**Question of the chapter:**_

_**If you were in a deserted jungle on a survival quest with the KHR cast, who would you pick to be your partner and why?**_

* * *

_~Last time~_

"_Ah!" Upon reaching a small lake, Gokudera stopped short, seeing a figure in the water. "T-that's…"_

_Long blue hair cascaded past her shoulders, her four rings glinting. Lal Mirch was bathing in the pond._

* * *

_**-Third Person's POV-**_

A trickle of blood escaped from Gokudera's nose.

"_Gokudera-kun…"_ A faint voice reached his ears, but the silver-haired bomber didn't immediately reply, despite recognising the voice as his boss's.

"Shhh! Juudaime, please be silent!"

"_Urgh…"_ Stumbling towards his right-hand man, Tsuna tripped, colliding with the other head-first.

_Splash!_

The duo were now soaked to the bone, having fallen into the pond.

"Juudaime! Are you alright?!" Gokudera frantically asked, watching his boss puking out his guts at the edge of the pond.

"_Tripped…ate…mushroom…poisonous_…" Unable to form a coherent sentence, Tsuna attempted to puke once more.

"The two brats, huh." A familiar low voice spoke. Twitching, both Gokudera and Tsuna turned around to face a naked Lal.

"HIEEEEEE!" A very familiar shriek resounded through the air.

((A/N: No, that wasn't Tsuna. :D))

"Juudaime?" Gokudera asked, staring at his boss – who had a nosebleed as well.

"W-wasn't me…" Tsuna muttered, desperately trying to stem the blood flow.

"Why are you two here?!" Sora shrieked, much to Lal's amusement, though she merely had a wry smile on her face.

'_Wait…Sora-chan is…'_ Upon his realization, Tsuna shrieked, which resulted in a cuff on the head, courtesy of a certain COMSUBIN member.

The two males' uniforms were soon thrown on the bank as Lal stripped and forced them to shower, apparently unconcerned, as opposed to the three teens.

"HIEEEEE!"

"WHAAAAT?!"

* * *

"Thank goodness…she caught a lot of fish for us…" Tsuna mumbled, nibbling at a roasted fish. His face was still red from the earlier incident, though the nosebleed had stopped. Gokudera made a small sound of agreement before staring at his own roasted fish, still embarrassed by the earlier incident. Both males were currently bare-bodied, since their shirts were still drying.

"…" Lal stared at the two males, brown eyes serious. The two males, on the other hand, looked away, faces reddening even more – if that was even possible.

"E-eto…we have some time now, right, Lal-san?" Sora asked quietly, eating her roasted fish.

"Indeed." Lal replied, finishing the last of her fish. "I'll tell you what I know."

"…Really?" Tsuna asked, hopeful.

"Che." Gokudera frowned slightly, suspicion written all over his face.

"Don't be so suspicious, Gokudera-kun; Lal-san belongs to the CEDEF." Sora said, finishing the last of her fish.

"CEDEF…Dad's organisation?" Tsuna mused in wonder, while Gokudera looked resigned.

"…you're not surprised." Lal bluntly commented, looking at Gokudera, who shook his head.

"The future self of that dumb woman there told us that an ally would want to test us." Gokudera jerked his head at Sora, who looked slightly confused.

"I see…" Lal sighed, before continuing. "The whole Vongola is currently in a state of emergency. I agreed to investigate the situation and at the same time, check out the condition of the Decimo Generation."

"The whole Vongola…in a state of emergency?" Tsuna asked in disbelief. Wasn't Vongola the most powerful mafia family? How could it be in a state of emergency?!

"Vongola HQ…fell two days ago to the Millefiore, didn't it?" Sora asked quietly.

"That is correct." Lal confirmed. "The entire building was demolished. There are currently no survivors, and Vongola Nono is unaccounted for. The CEDEF team rushed to the scene, but we lost contact."

"That's impossible!" Gokudera stood up abruptly. "You're lying!"

"G-Gokudera-kun!" Tsuna frowned slightly. "Lal-san isn't lying. At least, my Hyper Intuition says so."

"B-but Juudaime!" Gokudera protested. "There's no way the Vongola could fall!"

"Not in the past…" Sora said, Lal finishing the sentence. "But in this era, the Millefiore Famiglia that is led by Byakuran was able to monopolize the underground world of the mafia."

As the night wore on, both Gokudera and Tsuna learnt more about the mafia in this current era, but neither stopped to wonder how Sora already knew.

"So…in short, the key to this era are the mafia rings and boxes, which is with Byakuran?" Tsuna finally asked.

"Yep!" Sora nodded her head vigorously, while Lal pointed at her parachute box weapon floating above them.

"That's an example of a box weap-!" Suddenly getting to her feet, Lal pulled her tan cape on while dousing the fire with sand.

"Oi! Woman, what are you doing?!" Gokudera shouted, half-standing in alarm.

"Enemies!" Lal's brown eyes flashed. "Now's not the time to get emotional; these guys are strong. If they find us, it's all over!"

Without questioning her orders, Sora ran for the safety for the thicket, Tsuna and Gokudera chasing after her. Lal brought up the rear, infrared visor on and scanning their surroundings.

As they hid in the shadows, a low rumbling could be heard. "That one's just a scout." Lal remarked softly, peering intently through her visor. "The Mist Stealth ring should get us past."

"Wait a minute…Lal-san, do you have another Mammon chain?" Sora whisper-shouted, already starting to unchain her ring.

"Wha-why?" Lal asked with a frown. Upon catching sight of Sora removing the chain, she quickly stopped the girl. "No, I don't, why?"

"Hate to break it to you two, but that Gola Mosca is heading our way!" Gokudera whisper-shouted, panicking.

"Shimatta! Tsuna has Lancia's boss ring!" Sora frowned – a rarity in itself.

"What?! Strau Mosca is heading our way?!" Furious, Lal turned to look at Tsuna, who quivered under her intense glare. "You never told me about another ring, even after telling you about the importance of rings in this era!"

Pushing her Mammon chain to Tsuna, Sora stepped out of the shadows, whip in hand. "Chain up your other ring, Tsuna-kun. Lal-san, please make sure that they don't get harmed."

"Are you mad?! Even with the four of us, we can't beat him; you'll be annihilated!" Lal said through gritted teeth.

"No, I won't…probably." Sora smiled, though it was slightly strained.

The Mosca had finally noticed her, picking up the power of the Marea ring. Its eyes glowed red as it raised its right hand, missiles ready to fire.

Glowing golden-auburn, Sora's whip flashed, a bright streak against the dark sky. "I won't hold back! Salto Volante Veloce Come Luce!"

_To be the driving force of the family; their hope when all seems lost. That is the role of the elusive Comet. Coming and going according to its wishes, they unleash the hidden potential of the family. _

The bullwhip twirled and spun, just like a streaking comet against the night sky as its destructive power soon reduced the lone Strau Mosca to nothing more than pieces of junk machinery.

"…Thanks for not helping, Yamamoto-kun." Sora said with an exhausted sigh, the bullwhip vanishing into the folds of her lavender skirt.

"Maa maa, you handled it just fine by yourself, Sora." Flashing his trademark blinding smile, Yamamoto Takeshi stepped out of the shadows, katana in hand.

"HIEEEE! Y-you're-!" Tsuna shrieked.

"Yakyuu-baka?!" Gokudera exclaimed.

"Haha, this isn't a bad joke, right? I came here to pick up an agent of CEDEF, and you three are here too!" Yamamoto smiled, but his face soon turned serious. "Why have you shrunk? Maybe an illusion? Or…demons?"

'_This person is definitely Yamamoto!'_ Gokudera and Tsuna thought, sweatdropping.

"Ne, we came here from the past because of the Ten-Year Bazooka." Sora returned a small smile for a brief instant, before it turned into a glare. "And why didn't you help me?!"

"Ah! I see! So you're from the past! I should have known…" Yamamoto grinned, scratching the back of his head. "Ehe, sorry. I thought you could handle it…and you did."

"We'd best get moving before any other Strau Mosca arrive." Lal said, returning her parachute bow weapon to its box.

"Ahaha, that's right." Yamamoto grinned, before handing over a Mammon Chain to Sora. "You know the drill, right?" Nodding, Sora wrapped the chain around her Marea Ring.

* * *

"Ahaha, so the scramble for the rings with the Varia ended a few months back?" Yamamoto grinned. "Feels so nostalgic…"

"A-ano, what happened since then?" Tsuna asked. _'This is like talking to the old Yamamoto…'_

"Hm…a lot of things have happened." Yamamoto gave him a lopsided grin before ruffling his hair. "You were really awesome in these past ten years, Tsuna!"

"You too, Gokudera." Yamamoto lifted his left hand to ruffle Gokudera's hair, but was stopped by the latter, who stared at his left hand intently.

"Yakyuu-baka…you're married?!" Gokudera exclaimed, examining the ring on the fourth finger of said guardian's left hand.

"HIEEEE!" Tsuna shrieked, while a curious Sora glanced at them, remaining silent.

"Ahaha, yeah." Yamamoto grinned. "Your future self was playing the piano, Gokudera, and it was great!"

Removing her infrared visor, Lal stared at the little group. "If we don't run, we'll never make it to the base by sunrise."

"Actually…we're already here." Yamamoto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I forgot to tell you, but your information of the base's location is wrong."

"…?" Puzzled, Lal looked incredulous.

"My bad." Yamamoto grinned, before taking out a blue box, much like the one Lal used earlier, the only exception being that it was of a different colour. "Stay close, and don't lose sight of me no matter what."

Inserting the ring on the middle finger of his right hand into the box weapon, Yamamoto tilted the top face away from himself as a glowing blue swallow burst out.

"It's defensive camouflage." He smiled a little seeing the confused looks on Tsuna's and Gokudera's faces. "Don't look away, now."

Out of the blue, a heavy downpour began, drenching the small party. "This way!" Yamamoto called out, standing by an entrance that led underground. "We're heading downwards."

* * *

"The base is underground?" Tsuna asked, staring at the cold grey walls around them.

"Yep. This place is an important military point for the Vongola, so its construction was kinda rushed." Yamamoto grinned, placing his hand on a scanner.

A door opened in the wall of the otherwise dead-end tunnel, leading the group to a huge space with plenty of concrete and metal pillars.

"So, there are six entrances to this place?" Lal asked, receiving a nod in reply. "The file was right on one point, at least …"

"So, the Vongola built this place?" Gokudera asked, examining the room.

"Haha, yes and no." Yamamoto grinned. "Wanna hear something sweet?"

"Tsuna-kun built this place." Sora cut in, grinning at the surprise the brunet voiced out.

Smiling at Sora, Yamamoto nodded, before leading the group to another door at the opposite end of the room. This door, however, was open, although there were red laser beams shooting from one end of the door frame to the other.

"This device was created by Giannini, our mechanic. From what I understood," Yamamoto spoke, ignoring a snort from Gokudera. "This device is a disruption barrier of sorts."

Yamamoto passed through the barrier first, followed by Sora, Tsuna, Gokudera, and finally Lal who brought up the rear. However, when Lal passed through the laser beams, she let out a small gasp of pain, before collapsing.

"H-hey! What happened?!" Gokudera shouted in alarm, while Tsuna let out a "HIEEEE!"

"Don't worry about it." Yamamoto smiled, lifting Lal up bridal-style. "She collapsed because for her kind, this artificial environment is very different from the one outside."

"…her…kind?" Tsuna asked.

"Does this mean she's a UMA?!" Gokudera asked, his obsession with the occult overriding common logic.

"Nope. And Lal will wake up in a bit, so don't worry!" Sora grinned, before following Yamamoto into another room. Still a bit unnerved, Tsuna followed them, Gokudera bringing up the rear so that "I can ensure Juudaime's safety in case anything happens".

Plenty of expensive furniture filled the room; a large screen monitor, leather armchairs and antique tables were among them. Tsuna only had eyes for the fedora-wearing infant sitting on the armchair in front of them, though.

"Reborn!" Rushing forwards, Tsuna was about to hug him when-

_Crash!_

A foot made contact with the back of his head, sending him flying face-first into the leather armchair.

"The back of your head was made for the arch of my foot." A smirking Reborn in a pure white special suit landed neatly on the armchair – after kicking Tsuna out of it, of course.

"What the hell? What's up with this screwed-up reunion?!" Tsuna exclaimed, sobbing. "And here I was, thinking that I was going to die before I could find you…and you're in a weird suit again!"

'_But at least he's alright…'_ Tsuna smiled, reminiscing on the times when Reborn would dress up in weird outfits for fun.

"I do not dress up in my suits for fun." Reborn deadpanned, before smirking slightly. "Besides, this suit is keeping my health from deteriorating. The outside barrier was also built for my sake."

"Eh?" Tsuna looked puzzled for a moment, before remembering something. "Oh yeah! We can't get back to the past! And Tsumi-san said that you'd understand everything soon…"

"I know, Dame-Tsuna. In fact, I've already understood some of it." Reborn would have rolled his eyes, but then again, he was the world's greatest hitman. "But still, that's not the only thing that's strange."

"Eh?" Was Gokudera's intelligent reply, before Sora cut in with a "We're not quite ten years into the future, right?"

Turning around to look at Sora with his cold onyx eyes – and having the pleasure of seeing her flinch, Reborn nodded slowly. "We're only nine years and ten months into the future. How this happened…even I do not know."

"I knew it, even Reborn doesn't know too." Gokudera remarked, emerald eyes thoughtful.

"Just be glad that we're not in some random place." Reborn stated. He looked at Sora. "Tsumi and Hotaru should be arriving soon. Then…there are some people you need to meet.

Five minutes later, two familiar, yet strange faces arrive at the base, along with two others.

"So this is…"

"The Vongola base."

Sora ran up to them, her face radiating happiness. "You guys!"

* * *

_**-TYL!Tsumi's POV-**_

Reborn addresses the five of us. "Marea, though you have five guardians, you only have four rings, am I right?"

I nod; a movement so slight that most would not have caught it. "The Snow Ring is in possession of the Millefiore White Spell, Second Squad – Rosa."

"We suspect that it is currently in the hands of the Captain of the Rosa squad, a Japanese man named Irie Shouichi." A dark-haired man spoke, flashing Reborn a charming smile. He had a head of messy, midnight-black hair, along with pale-blue eyes that resemble two chips of ice. Dressed in a crisp, black shirt, a pale red tie along with a pair of black long pants, he was confident and in his element. _Sekihiko Kirito, the Marea Guardian of Darkness. _

Sora looked shocked at his overwhelming presence, and he chuckled, giving me a meaningful look. A small chuckle escapes my lips as Eri nudged Hotaru, while a bullet flies straight at me, taking off a few strands of my dark, shoulder-length hair.

"You're not allowed to be in a relationship with your guardian, idiot." A clearly exhausted Lal leaned against the wall, gauntlet pointing at Kirito and me.

A wry smile tugged at me lips. Charismatic, powerful and a total dark horse, I was drawn to Kirito when we first met. Even now, ten years into the future, those embers still burned…but we had settled for a comfortable friendship.

Taking a look at Reborn's curious face, I shoot Eri a look, and she takes a step forward. She is ridiculously conventionally beautiful, with waist-length golden-blonde hair that's slightly braided on one side. Her glowing jade green eyes were highlighted by pale, unblemished skin, as well as simple clothes that accentuate her slim, but perfect frame. _Mitsui Eri, the Marea Guardian of Snow._

"Decimo, I am Mitsui Eri, the Marea Snow Guardian." She smiled, jade eyes mischievous. "It is my fault that the Snow Ring is in the Millefiore's hands-"

"I told you not to go on that mission solo." I interjected, glaring at her. "However, your punishment is currently negated for now, seeing as we have…a crisis on our hands."

Flinching slightly, she continued, grimacing. "I was ambushed, captured and tortured…but luckily Kirito busted me out."

Lal leaves the room, staggering. My eyes narrow as I stare at my former mentor, but offering help to her now would be useless. Pride always comes before a fall; if she didn't fall her, everything would have come to naught.

"Eh?! But if we don't have the Snow Ring…" Tsuna frowned slightly, only to get hit in the head by Reborn, who told him to "keep his nose out of the Marea's business unless he wanted his face rearranged".

Eri flashed him a gentle smile. "When we fight the Millefiore, we can get the Ring back. I haven't cared for it nearly ten years to lose it now."

I take a look at Sora, as did Hotaru; we could almost see her thought processes. Though hyper-active and seemingly oblivious, the Sora from my time was the most perceptive of all five of us. It'll be interesting to see how her younger self lives up to the record set by her…

"Eri-san, Kirito-san, how did we meet?" Sora asks cautiously. They both laugh, while Hotaru smiled. An amused smirk plays on my face, however.

"Eri was right when she said you haven't changed a bit." Kirito's voice is ridiculously smooth.

"Quit messing with her, Kirito." I sigh. "Now's not the time for this…"

"Yes, my lady." An amused smirk similar to mine crosses his face as he bows, ignoring the horrified shrieks from Tsunayoshi, as well as Gokudera's murmuring. Probably taking notes on how to be the perfect right-hand man, though Kirito is everything but that.

Eri smiles warmly at Sora. Though she is obviously able to fight, and being part of the Mafia, has obviously seen too much, she still seems to be innocent and pure. "We can't divulge too much, though…you'll change the present. Well, future for you. I'll just tell you to look out for me in Namimori Middle."

"W-what?!"

* * *

_Gack! I'm so sorry for the late update! **Kinomoto1995**, **violet scorpio**... here's the next chapter!_

_So sorry once again! Please review/favourite/follow! And don't forget to answer the question above~_

_CrimsonSkyTamer  
18th July 2013_


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